In Reply to: Duck swings on Nico posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on October 10, 2026 at 23:28:53
Thank you very much for posting this. I thought his injury might have involved the punch. No announcer mentioned it other than to say they were trying to punch-out the ball. The second punch came from a former Trojan I believe Bear Alexander.
I am a big Nico fan and feel he is a loyal Bruin who stuck with the program knowing they probably were not going to emphasize the pass. I very much hope this is just a decision base on personnel lacks at receiver and not a lack of belief in the pass on Chesney's part. Going into the game we had no receiver with 200 yards of receptions, that will never get you to an elite level, just ask the Iowa or Minnesota fans.
Again this game proves how analytics do not work in football, samples are not big enough to apply to an individual play. The popular notion of the year is that you should immediately go for a 2 point conversion. Lannings decision to do that cost him the game. Had he kicked the xtra point after the first touchdown he would have tied it with the kick on the last touchdown, instead of being forced again to going for 2 and getting stuffed.
It is like going for it on fourth down, that cost SC the Oregon game, the 3 man rush that shifts all the numbers and time to the offense and the onside kick that has about the lowest success rate of any play in football.
Coaches shouldn't feel they should take over for their players and out trick an opponent, it is insulting to your players. Coach your team up and have the confidence your players can win it on the field. If time and score makes it impossible to win without taking chances than that is the time to consider an out of the box play.