It was a terrible, terrible call whose cost benefit analysis made no sense. Getting stuffed and losing a yard to the 2 would have been far more preferable, and I was just sure as could be that some kind of PA to the flat was coming.
Sark may have been fighting his own demons with the failure to punch it in against OU last year on his mind.
Looking at the numbers, the fact that running outside on OSU has proven to be near impossible all year and that their safeties wouldn't have to back up an inch with coverage responsibilities makes the decision to get wide with Tre even more ignominious.
Having said that…I kinda get it. Maybe hoping they sell out in the middle and we catch them with the toss. You’d think Blue would be the obvious choice with that in mind, but perhaps that would have tipped intentions. Or maybe it was Tre’s turn in the rotation and they called it anyway. A weakness in this staff imoho is a penchant to make situationally inappropriate calls based on personnel, situation or opponent. We saw two terrible ones at the Cotton Bowl that was the difference in the game. Such are the margins.
I also understand that we were playing with our backups at all skill positions save TE at that point in the game so options against a legit defense are limited. And Arch was probably dinged from the uncalled targeting on his lone carry. Still, that’s kinda when you want us to display Sark’s X/O acumen with alignment, motion or personnel to try and get that yard. Whether that was an extreme unbalanced alignment, jumbo TE PA pass to Agbo for example, two DT leading Juan Davis on the inside carry or just attempting a tush push with Helm rushing up to take the snap would have been fine.
We all knew we were going to struggle running inside as soon as Baxter went down, and it’s a credit to the staff that they reimagined their rushing attack into OZ given what we had been emphasizing since last season up to that point and what Sark’s preferred run play is to set up his offense. We all just kinda expected something better considered than a basic toss play on the goal line against that defense.