Western Kentucky just punted on fourth-and-goal in the Miami Beach Bowl. More impressively, Western Kentucky just punted on fourth-and-goal in the Miami Beach Bowl, and it was the right call, and it was PERFECT.
Western Kentucky punted on 4th-and-goal, and it was beautiful
Fourth-and-goal punts are rare, but WKU faced fourth-and-goal from the 38. WKU’s Jake Collins knocked the heck out of this one, pinning USF at the 3-yard line.
Here’s how this happened:
- WKU drove to the USF 6-yard line.
- WKU’s D’Andre Ferby ran for no gain.
- WKU’s Forrest Lamp committed a personal foul, pushing the Hilltoppers back to the 21-yard line.
- USF’s Johnny Ward sacked WKU’s Brandon Doughty for a loss of 7, pushing the Hilltoppers back to the 28.
- USF’s Eric Lee sacked Doughty for a loss of 10, pushing the Hilltoppers back to the 38.
That would’ve been a 55-yard field goal, and WKU’s kicker Garrett Schwettman supposedly has a maximum range of 50 yards. Normally, we’d tell a team to go for it on fourth-and-X at the 38-yard line, since the worst result is the opponent getting the ball at the 38. But when it’s fourth-and-38 at the 38, there’s pretty much zero chance you convert. If you’re out of your kicker’s range, your options are a Hail Mary and punting, and punting is generally more likely to help you.
In this case, it did. The great field position eventually allowed WKU to score a field goal.
The most prominent fourth-and-goal punt in college football came in the 2011 Capital One Bowl, when Alabama’s complete dominance of Michigan State was best encapsulated in MSU being pushed from the 7-yard line to the 38 before a punt.
So far as I can tell, this is the second fourth-and-goal punt of the year. The other came in Toledo-Arkansas State, when the Rockets had a botched play go for a loss of 20 yards and then fumbled for a loss of 9 yards, leading to a punt from the 39.
There was actually a hugely important fourth-and-goal punt in the FCS playoffs. Undefeated McNeese State got to the 1-yard line of Sam Houston State trailing 34-29, but two sacks and three penalites pushed McNeese State back to the 39. They punted, never saw the ball again, and lost.
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