Dan Lanning Said The Genius "12 Men On The Field" Penalty Was Intentional
So we're a few days out from the Oregon game now, but the story still surrounding it.....outside of the fact that Ryan Day has fallen to 1-7 against Top 5 teams...is that the Ducks had 12 men out of the field on Ohio State's 3rd and 25 with 10 seconds left. It worked out to make Dan Lanning look like a genius. He called a timeout with 10 seconds left. They sent a 12th man out on the field late....which would mean Ohio State shouldn't have a good play. The Buckeyes snapped the ball, no significant gain, obvious 5 yard penalty, replay 3rd down.....BUT THE TIME DOESN'T GET PUT BACK ON???
That's actually fucking insane. And it'll be corrected with a rules change next year, I'm sure. But it completed fucked Ohio State (NOT why they lost at all). 10 seconds to get 15 yards and call a timeout is way different than 6 seconds to get 15 yards and a timeout. Doesn't matter either way if your Quarterback is going to basically kneel the clock out, but still...we had a chance. And the 12th man penalty substantially lesser that chance.
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Now the debate afterwards was, was it on purpose? No way, right? But after Dan Lanning had this to say, it is confirmed: they practiced it and did it on purpose.
You want me to fucking say it? I'll say it. I'll give credit where credit is due. Anything it takes to win, you gotta do it. College football is a cutthroat game and the difference between these 4 seconds is the difference between the entire state of Ohio calling for Ryan Days job or building him a statue right now.....so yeah, hats off to Lanning. And I'm sure the Michigan Men will enter below and say that's different than what I've said about the Stalions situation.....it's not. I respect what Stalions did too....it was just against the rules. And if you break the rules, you just can't get caught. If Dan Lanning really did come up with this to run the time out off the clock in a late game situation and lessen the opponent's plays by one, kudos. Outsmarted Ryan Day (not that hard these days), but outsmarted the rulebook as well.