I believe in the 1974 USC-Notre Dame game, USC missed the PAT after its first TD and went in trailing 24-6 at halftime.
Then the Trojans scored 49 straight points including Anthony Davis returning the opening kickoff of the second half for a TD.
So actually it was 55 points in a row.
Davis 7 pass from Haden (kick failed)
Davis 102 kickoff return (run failed)
Davis 6 run (Limahelu kick)
Davis 4 run (Davis run)
McKay 18 pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)
McKay 45 pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)
Diggs 16 pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)
Phillips 58 interception return (Limahelu kick)
35 of those points came in the third quarter.
Also under current NCAA stat keeping rules, Davis would be credited with a 100 yard kickoff return. The NCAA doesn’t count any distance you travel out of the end zone anymore.
I don’t know if that example really fits here, because those coaches’ cheat-sheets that say whether to go for two would have said to kick in that case. Coach B was going against the book when he went for 2 after the first TD. Then, having missed that, he went against the book again when he went for 2 after the second TD (a kicked PAT would have left them 7 points behind). Having missed that, he pretty much had to go for two on the third TD because they were eight points behind at that time.
John Carter, PatrickM, and BobT: despite the popularity of both schools, who’d’a thunk there’d be four people in one thread who remember that game? (Of course, if you saw it, it wasn’t the sort of game you’d forget.)
BobT - since you’re reading off the box score there, I stand corrected. I coulda sworn John McKay (my all-time favorite college football coach, btw) went for two after the first TD, but 28 years will do that to one’s memory.
John Carter - my parents both graduated from Southern Cal, and I was watching that game on TV with them. (For me, it must’ve been Thanksgiving break from college.) So you can guess who we were rooting for, and how our mood changed during the game. :))
Sigh… I remember the ND-USC game well, especially because I’d had a lengthy argument with several people the week before, in which I’d insisted Anthony Davis was overrated and Archie Griffin deserved his second Heisman.
You think Anthony heard me, and I ticked him off a tad?
Anyway, back to the original point: I appreciate the debate people have provided. I still think that it’s generally a bad idea to go for a 2 point conversion until it’s late in the game, and you really, really NEED that additional point to stay in contention.
Points are hard to come by in the NFL, and until the 4th quarter or so, I don’t think teams should give up a free point (well… ALMOST a guaranteed free point). Early in a game, you don’t know yet how crucial that 1 point might be later.
So, I’m still inclined to say, “Coach, put away your little table, and don’t look at it until the 4th quarter. At the VERY least, wait for the 2nd half.”
