MMQB: The Two Point Controversy

I've been in several arguments over the past few days about the two two-point conversions TCU attempted in the Oklahoma game, so I thought I would address them both here.

3rd Quarter, 12:43 - Aaron Green shakes and bakes for a 26-yard touchdown run - OU 23, TCU 13

The logic behind the call to go for two makes sense to me. If you're TCU, you're offense has been sputtering, but your defense has been playing really well. You're not sure when you'll put together another touchdown drive, more or less two, so you decide to try and ride the momentum you've gotten off of Green's run and cut the deficit to eight.

At this point in the game, TCU had amassed 198 yards on offense over the course of nine drives. Foster Sawyer was lofting balls up to the Oklahoma secondary like he was playing a game of 500, and it seemed like even a 9 point lead would be too much to overcome.

That being said, I would have kicked the extra point. The defense was playing well, and with Trevor Knight in for Johnny Football Baker Mayfield, it didn't look like Oklahoma was going to be able to pull much further ahead. Plus, with hindsight being 20/20, an extra point here would keep TCU from having to go for two later, all else the same.

At the very least, I would have appreciated a better attempt on the two-point conversion. Throwing a fade to a double-covered Kolby Listenbee is not a high percentage play. Maybe run it with the guy who just scored the touchdown? Or a slant over the middle to Turpin or Nixon? There were several options better than the fade.

4th Quarter, 0:51 - Bram Kohlhausen completes 14-yard touchdown pass to Emanuel Porter - OU 30, TCU 29

Alright. If we know anything about Gary Patterson, then we know this: On the road he goes for the win, at home he's fine with OT. We saw it a few years ago in Morgantown, when TCU went for two to win, rather than kicking an extra point to send the game into another overtime. We saw it against Boise State in 2011, when Pachall completed a pass to Josh Boyce to knock off the then No. 5 Broncos in Boise.

So, suffice it to say, as soon as Porter came down with the ball (in itself a small miracle), I knew that we were going to go for two. I was fine with it, because it's true to who Patterson is.

We can talk about momentum, about Trevor Knight's ineptitude, about all kinds of things, but at the end of the day, Patterson did what he always does. Feel free to fault him for that if you wish, but I choose not to. I question him more than the average fan (not always here, in writing), but not on this.

The defense had done their part, and right then it was on the offense to finish the job.

Now, though, it's on to Baylor.