August 3, 2007
Let’s Talk Prothro
I was as disappointed as anyone to see that Alabama WR Tyrone Prothro has been given a medical scholarship. What’s going to be more unbearable, over the next few days, will be the number of commenters, bloggers, and pundits (many of whom have never stepped on a football field, let alone coached on one) belly-aching about how he never should’ve been in the game.
To put my response it in the kindest possible way: horseshit.
This sort of argument is lazy. Unsurprisingly, The Wizard of Odds is first on the scene (and this should surprise no one) with this argument’s trademarked half-assed logic. Let’s look:
The bottom line: Prothro’s injury should have never happened. The Crimson Tide held a 31-3 lead over the Gators with under nine minutes remaining when Prothro, who should not have even been in the game, got hurt. And Alabama coach Mike Shula should have known better. In 2004, he lost quarterback Brodie Croyle to injury during a blowout against dreaded Western Carolina.
At the time of the Injury, Alabama had been incubating a nice reputation for being chronically unable to play a full game of football. So let’s go back. After scoring on the first possession of the half, Alabama had been sputtering. Florida got the ball at their own 31 with about two minutes to play in the 3rd quarter. The quarter ended with three straight completions, taking the Gators into Alabama territory. Florida came out of the gate with two incomplete passes to start the final quarter of play, before converting a 4th and long situation with pass, taking them to around the Alabama 35.
That’s when the defense stood up. Alabama sacked Chris Leak and, on the next play, a defensive lineman got a good jump and Florida had to take a holding penalty. Florida tossed a quick pass on 2nd and 20-something, which was stopped for very little gain. On 3rd and long Ramzee Robinson picked off a pass and returned it to the Florida 43 yard line.
Okay, coach, what do you do? Shula had two options:
1. Send in the second team, with 9 minutes of football to play, and let the subs get some playing time. Ignore the fact that Florida had been putting together a drive, that they had recently beaten the #5 team in the nation, and that your team’s play so far that season had been spotty at best. OR…
2. Go for the throat. Punch it in with your starters and earn a decisive victory. Show your team what it means to own the fourth quarter. Light a spark under your team.
Sure, after the fact we see that Prothro got hurt and the immediate reaction is “he never should’ve been playing.” And if all you do is look at the score, maybe you’re right. Of course, the game is more than just the score, and the season is even more than that. This isn’t the NFL. College players have a lot to learn, and (for once) Shula was teaching. His coaching performance from that point forward makes him an easy target, and it seems to be popular to evangelize the laziest possible analysis of every college football event, but it just doesn’t work here.
I supported Shula’s decision then and I support it now. Do I wish Prothro hadn’t gotten hurt? Absolutely. Do I think it was the wrong decision to play the starters? No.
Filed under: Alabama
August 6th, 2007 at 6:51 am
You really think UF was going to score 28 points in 9 minutes?
I might be inclined to give Shula the benefit of the doubt here, except I remember his equally puzzling decision to insert an obviously injured Brodie Croyle into the ‘03 game with Georgia.
August 6th, 2007 at 6:58 am
I don’t think there’s a “benefit of the doubt” here, I think that was the correct coaching decision under the circumstances.
Was Florida going to score 28 points in 9 minutes? No, probably not. Would it have been the greatest comeback in history if they had? No.
Pretending like “is the game out of reach for the other team” is the only question worth considering when determining when to start playing the scrubs is naive at best.
August 6th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Well, all I know is I remember thinking when ‘Bama’s first team offense took the field at that point “what is Shula thinking, putting Croyle back out there?”
I had the right concept, just the wrong player.
August 6th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
And that’s a great call if you’re playing NCAA 2008. In the real world, though, there’s more to it than the score.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:13 am
Your guys dominated the game all day and had a 28 point lead with nine minutes to play… if they just hold serve the rest of the way out, which they did, they “earn a decisive victory”.
‘Bama had depth issues throughout Shula’s tenure. Face it, the guy, for whatever reason, liked to tempt fate. Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor.
We’ll just have to disagree on this one.