Phil Fulmer: Coach Bad and Get There

OK, so Tennesse won an exciting OT game v
South Carolina 27-24 after having their
backs against the wall. While the Vols'
coaches deserve some credit, for the second
weekend in a row, the SEC night game on
ESPN showed some awful game/clock
management in the closing minutes. Last
week, it was Les Miles making a blunder but
still winning. This week was Phil Fulmer's
turn.

There was 1:30 seconds left in the 4th qtr in
a game tied at 21 as S Carolina's kicker Ryan
Succop lined up for a 49 yard FG. The Vols
had 2 timeouts remaining. With the clock
already stopped, Phil Fulmer decided to use
one of his two timeouts to 'ice' the kicker.
WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't want to get into
whether 'icing' the kicker works. No one has
shown that it positively has. There are no
studies on it, only anecdotes. What is truly
amazing is that this wasn't the time to use
an 'icing' timeout no matter what. This was
not the last play in regulation. There was 1:30
left in the game, an eternity it seems in
college football. Fulmer decided it would be
worth it to only have one timeout for that
time period for a winning or tying score for
the chance a timeout might 'ice' the kicker.
Succop, of course, drilled the 49 yarder.
After the Vols got a good return on the
following kickoff, they traveled 22 yards in 6
plays. The Vols had to 'spike' the ball on one
play to stop the clock. Then, the FG team had
a false start after rushing onto the field
following the spike. Fulmer's blunder was then
hidden as his freshman kicker, Lincoln, kicked
the longest FG of his career. Tennessee went
on to win in overtime, as previously
mentioned. However, that is beside the point.
Fulmer made a boneheaded move and the
Volunteers could've used that timeout in a
big way on their last regulation drive.