WKU Football: The Blame for Loss to ODU Doesn’t Go On Sanford
I have now had over 36 hours to sit and think about what I watched Saturday night at the Houch. I was one of the few that picked WKU to win in a close game knowing that I was set up for a night of disappointment. I obviously had no idea what was in front of me and honestly still struggle to understand what actually happened.
Sunday morning, my mom texted me asking how the game went, knowing they lost. The only word I could use to describe it was “Bizarre.”
While I still don’t know what exactly happened, the one thing I do know is it wasn’t Mike Sanford’s fault.
Immediately after the end of the game, fans looked to point a finger at someone to blame. Sanford is the easiest target for that and for some of the games this season, he does deserve the blame. Saturday night’s game cannot be placed on his shoulders.
As I walked out of the stadium, I immediately logged into Twitter to see the reaction. I saw a lot of disbelief, but then I saw a lot of people who were angry at Sanford for attempting the field goal not once, but twice.
For those that weren’t there, it might have looked like a questionable call, but Alex Rinella was kicking with a 30+ mph wind at this back. If he got the ball up into the air, he surely had a shot of making it based on only the wind.
In Sanford’s postgame press conference, he said that Rinella consistently made 55–62 yard field goals in practice, which is why he had no doubt in sending him out there to attempt the game winner. Unless you are a part of the team, you have no idea whether this is true or not, but you have to believe that Sanford trusted his kicker to make the kick. That was the right call in that situation.
On the run back; I am not sure what Sanford could have done on that play. He said it was one they worked on in practice before, but when you give a player practically 40 yards to get to full speed, it makes things a lot more difficult. That play can’t be on the head coach either.
If we look at the first 60 minutes of the game, I think Sanford coached one of his better games: The offense looked solid, Davis Shanley was consistent and didn’t try to do too much and the Tops had two players with over 80 yards rushing for the first time since the 2016 Moonshine Throwdown, when Ace Wales and Quinton Baker both rushed for over 100.
Defensively, the team struggled, but that blame cannot be directly placed on the shoulders of Mike Sanford. Defensive coordinator Clayton White will have to come with some answers on how they keep giving up these touchdown drives late in games.
I might be the only one on this train, but I think in a way Sanford cooled his hot seat a bit. He coached with poise and confidence in his team to make plays. It just didn’t happen in a positive way for WKU.
You can throw blame around for games like this, but in all reality, no blame deserves to be placed. It is no secret that the football gods have a sense of humor.
All I have to ask them, is what did Mike Sanford do to piss them off?
