Illinois was tied against Purdue on Saturday, 31-31, with three seconds left in regulation. The Illini were lining up a game-winning field goal try from 41 yards. But Purdue coach Darrell Hazell wasn’t going to let it happen that easily.
Purdue TRIPLE-ICED Illinois’ kicker, and it worked!
Purdue took gamesmanship to its logical extreme and WON A BIG TEN GAME.
Hazell hadn’t used any of his three second-half-timeouts, allowing Illinois to run the clock all the way down to one final play. Hazell figured there was no reason to let his timeouts go to waste, so he called three in a row while Illini kicker Chase McLaughlin stood behind his holder, ready to rock. Then McLaughlin missed his first kick of the season, clanging the 41-yarder off the right upright. The game was headed to overtime, where Purdue would win on its own field goal.
The best thing about this ordeal was the way the coaches reacted to it. When Hazell opted to ice McLaughlin for the third time, Illinois coach Lovie Smith gave us the most “Dude, what are you doing?” look I’ve ever seen in my life.
And when the kick didn’t go in, Hazell celebrated just as you’d expect for a coach who’d just iced a kicker three times and then watched him miss the ensuing field goal, preserving that coach’s chance to win.
Been there, Darrell. Been there.
Smith counter-iced Purdue’s kicker in overtime, but that didn’t work, probably because he just used one timeout.
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