Trying To Make Sense Of Eddie Gran’s 4th Down Option Call

In Cincinnati’s nail biting win over the East Carolina Pirates last night, offensive coordinator Eddie Gran called the most questionable play of the evening that nearly cost the Bearcats the game.

UC was up 45-40 with a little over 2 minutes to play in the game. The Bearcats had the ball on their 33 yard line but it was 4th down. 4th and short but 4th down nonetheless. Regardless, Cincinnati was firmly in its own territory. Any call save of a punt was sheer madness (Belichick-level madness).

Even more so, Cincinnati ran an option. I’m not even sure I’ve seen a UC team run this play once in the last decade and I’m damn certain the Bearcats don’t take many option reps in practice.

So it’s probably no surprise that Gunner Kiel looked nervous as soon as he took the snap, didn’t know what to do with the football when ECU defenders were closing in on him, and fumbled the ball 7 yards into the backfield.

The immediate reaction from fans amounted to the likes of “what the hell”, “why”, and “please fire this man”. All rational lines of thinking for a play that nearly cost Cincinnati a shot at an AAC championship.

But in retrospect, was it the worst decision Gran could have made? I mean, other than telling Kiel to throw the ball to a wide open defensive back and let him sprint into the endzone. In truth, there are a couple of reasons why going for it on 4th and 2 made sense.

1. The Pirates spent all of 1:03 scoring a touchdown on the previous drive. Shane Carden had more than figured out Cincinnati’s defensive schemes and was picking it apart with no effort. Even with a long field, there were no guarantees ECU couldn’t have marched it down the field just as easily as before.
2. Overall, Cincinnati couldn’t stop East Carolina in the 2nd half. Since going up 18 after the first possession after halftime, ECU had closed the gap to 5 on a series of clutch third down catches from Justin Hardy and long rushes from Breon Allen. UC’s defense was running on empty after playing stellar football for the first three quarters.
3. The Bearcats’ offensive line was dominating up front and Gunner Kiel is an adept running quarterback.
4. East Carolina only had 1 timeout remaining. A Cincinnati first down ends the game.

On the other hand…

1. UC was on its own 33 yard line. The Pirates can score as effortlessly as any team in college football but why serve it up on a silver platter?
2. An option? Yea, I think we covered this above.
3. There’s too much on the line to get cute in a critical situation. Just punt, make East Carolina drive almost the length of the field, and put trust in the improving defense.

So as I try to make sense of Eddie Gran’s thought process here, I realize that it made no sense. The cons outweigh the pros going for it on 4th down in Cincinnati’s own territory. Maybe you risk it against an offense like SMU’s but a Pirates team that actually knows how to move the chains? Never in a million years.

Truth be told, Gran’s done this before, last time against South Florida, and he took an earful from Tommy Tuberville as a result. I’d expect UC’s head coach corralled his offensive coordinator after last night’s game as well. The best we can hope is that Gran has learned his lesson and he won’t out think himself in the future such that it nearly costs the Bearcats a crucial football game.