Situation Room: Bad Calls and Calling Timeouts

After a week of debatable officiating calls and questionable coaching decisions, we asked our experts -- former coaches -- about their philosophies in these situations. Although the topics were prompted by specific events, we asked the coaches to comment about their own experiences.

How to respond to a bad call

Bill Curry: Players and fans take their cues from the coach: If you pitch a fit and say you were robbed, you're excusing yourself. The next time a call doesn't go your way, your players will look for excuses. I took a different approach:

1. Focus on the response. In every football game, there might be 180 plays. When you complain about a call, you're sending the message that one official on one play cost you the game. What about the other 179 plays?

2. Accept responsibility. No one ever complains about the calls that go their way. Accepting responsibility allows you to learn from the experience and move on.

3. Look to the future. How can you prepare your team for the next time this happens?

This is one example of why football is such a good teacher. Players learn that life isn't always fair, but they have the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions. It teaches them to differentiate between what they can control and what they cannot. You can't control an official's call, so it's pointless to worry about it.

Bob Davie: Bottom line: Some things you can't control. As difficult as it is, you have to operate under the premise that it will all even out. I'm sure Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe, whose team was the victim of an egregious call against UConn, would admit that he has benefited from a call or two along the way. When you blame officials, you're letting your team make excuses and creating a safety net for them.

When to call a timeout

Jim Donnan: In 2004, the NCAA changed its rules, allowing head coaches to call a timeout. It was a great decision; in loud stadiums, it's hard to get your players' attention. As a coach, my philosophy was that you can't take your timeouts with you, so you might as well use them. If there was any doubt about a unit's ability to function, I'd call a timeout. If the clock was ticking and I wanted to get everyone on the same page, I'd call a timeout. If the other team was approaching field-goal territory and I had an extra timeout, I'd use it to try to ice the kicker. You never know how it will affect the kicker, and it gives you time to go over blocks, technique, etc. As much as you might talk about a certain situation with your team prior to the game, you never know what might happen in the game.

Bill Curry: With about 3½ minutes left in the game, with us on defense and our team behind, I'd start thinking about when to use my remaining timeouts. Timeouts are assets, and you don't want to leave a game with an asset you didn't use. If an opponent was in field-goal range (and a FG would tie the game or put us behind), I'd try to manage the clock so that there would be enough time left for us to mount a drive and score.

Breaking Down The Games

By Jim Donnan, ESPN.com

No. 11 Florida at No. 18 Georgia
This is annually one of my favorite games. It will be a tough test for the Bulldogs, who couldn't move the ball against Tennessee -- a team that gave up 377 yards of total offense to Arkansas State. Georgia hasn't done well putting points on the board this season, but the Dawgs do have one record that works in their favor: They are 50-7 under Mark Richt when they score first, including 4-0 this season. Florida's offense is on fire. Against Kentucky, the Gators scored seven times in 10 possessions -- and that's without Kentucky turning the ball over. Georgia isn't great at rushing the quarterback, and it will need to get pressure on Tim Tebow for the Dawgs to have any chance of winning. Tebow is bruised and sore, but he's still capable of making the big play, and he has a healthy Percy Harvin to help him. The teams that have beaten Florida (Auburn and LSU) have done so by limiting the time that the Gators' offense is on the field. It's questionable whether Georgia QB Matthew Stafford and the Dawgs offense is capable of putting together four strong quarters to do that. The keys for Georgia: ball control, tipped passes and forced fumbles.

South Florida at UConn
I had a chance to watch UConn in person this season, and I was impressed with the Huskies' talent. They're a physical team, and even though Louisville's not at the top of the Big East, the win over the Cardinals showed they're making a move in the conference. UConn is athletic on defense and able to put pressure on the quarterback -- a tactic Rutgers used effectively against South Florida QB Matt Grothe. The Huskies have a big, strong quarterback in Tyler Lorenzen and a strong running game (averaging 165 yards per game), but they've never beaten a ranked team. For that matter, UConn has not beaten a Division I-A school that currently has a winning record, and its five I-A wins have been over teams with a combined record of 14-23. Still, the Huskies are at the top of the Big East. Who would have thought that entering Week 9 of the season we'd see UConn, Virginia, Arizona State and UCLA among the conference leaders?

USC at Oregon
I like this game for two reasons: Can Oregon get over the hump? With USC getting injured players back, can the Trojans be the type of team people expected before the season? The winner of this game will be firmly in the Pac-10 race. During the days of USC's dominance, the Trojans did a stellar job of not turning the ball over. Not so this season. They're going up against a team with similar problems. In Oregon's loss to Cal, the Ducks beat themselves, throwing away two passes in the fourth quarter. The Ducks also have struggled stopping other teams; Washington played the Ducks close before UW ran out of gas. Oregon's strength is its explosive offense; there are few quarterback-running back tandems as dynamic as Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart. Stewart's ability to run inside with power and speed makes Dixon even tougher to defend. On the offensive side of the ball for USC, it will be interesting to see how QB Mark Sanchez reacts. Oregon poses more problems than Notre Dame, but he should be more comfortable leading the Trojans.

Last year's game between these teams featured a number of tremendous athletes, on par with the SEC. The winner of this game will be the team whose players step up in big situations.

Coach Class: Ohio State-Penn State

By ESPN The Magazine

Editor's note: Each week, analysts from ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine will tackle a game plan for one of the biggest games on the schedule.

Ohio State has won 26 straight regular-season games. The Buckeyes' last loss came in 2005 at Penn State. Can they make it 27? We had two former coaches, Mike Gottfried and Bill Curry, draw up competing game plans. Then Jim Donnan picked a winner. On paper, anyway.

Gottfried takes over Penn State

This game will be decided by turnovers, and we can't make any. On defense, our front four has to be a huge factor. We're going to turn DE Maurice Evans loose. We'll call a lot of stunts and twists to free him up. He's fast enough that he can duck inside, and even against a bigger guard or center, he can plow through in the backfield. Ohio State QB Todd Boeckman has played a perfect "new quarterback" schedule, but that ends with this game. LBs Dan Connor and Sean Lee are keys to stuffing RB Chris Wells. Connor is a terrific blitzer, and we'll use him against the run and pass. Lee's a terrific side-to-side guy. You can watch him on long stretch running plays, and he just stalks the play, then finds a moment to leap forward and make the stop. We'll lay this game mostly on the front seven. In the secondary, we'll play zone, and let CB Justin King and safety Anthony Scirrotto play with the ball constantly in front of them. On offense, QB Anthony Morelli can't make mistakes. He just can't throw two pick-sixes, like he did last year. Morelli has a ton of physical skills, but he has to be in control of the game. By that, I mean we can't have him slinging it in third-and-long situations. I would spread out the defense, because it's impossible to just line up and hammer Ohio State. That's what they want. We have to run the ball. Even if RBs Rodney Kinlaw and Evan Royster aren't picking up yards, we have to keep Ohio State at least thinking about that. If we have spread sets with WRs Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood in the game, along with TE Andrew Quarless, our backs should be able to get 4 yards a pop. In the end, it's up to kicker Kevin Kelly to win this game. I think it'll come down to one of his field goals as we spring the upset.

Read the full story here.

Coach's Corner

By Jim Donnan, ESPN.com

This season, the spread offense is front-and-center; five of the top 15 teams are quarterbacked by dual-threat athletes. Missouri's Chase Daniel, Florida's Tim Tebow, West Virginia's Pat White, Oregon's Dennis Dixon and South Florida's Matt Grothe have frustrated opponents with their ability to gain yards on the ground and find receivers down the field. How are these players so successful? Because they are so dominant both rushing and throwing the football, they have a lot of options every time they line up at the line of scrimmage.

Here's a quick look at a few running plays: 1. Shotgun. When these quarterbacks run out of the shotgun, they have an extra blocker in the backfield (instead of under center) who can create holes for him.

2. Option. When the line blocks zone, they put a man in motion and run a true triple option: read the hand off, keep the ball or pitch it to perimeter support.

3. Quarterback draw. Instead of handing off, quarterbacks will keep the ball. This is effective against teams that run two-deep man under coverage, which leaves the quarterback alone.

There are additional ground options, including quarterback counters and single-wing formations, and different sets (no back or one-back sets) that quarterbacks can use to confuse defenses and spread the field. Out of these sets, quarterbacks can set up screens to evade their defenders. Bubble screens are thrown to receivers behind the line, when the perimeter is blocked. Slow screens are used to control the rush. Quick screens are thrown to the back behind the line on a flare-type run, when receivers are blocking down field (the opposite of the bubble).

That gives quarterbacks even more flexibility -- and we haven't even started talking about passing plays! These elements make it tough to contain the quarterback. When teams dedicate too many defenders to the quarterback, the offense can exploit one-on-one matchups between their athletic receivers and an opponent's defensive backs and safeties. Quarterbacks running the spread are often among the more accurate passers, too, because the defense is more concerned with stopping the run. It's tough to focus on pass defense because of the ground threat. You can see these matchup problems in action in West Virginia-Rutgers, USC-Oregon and Florida-Georgia.

Recruiting

By Bob Davie, ESPN.com

Looking at the rankings, it occurred to me that not only are the teams at the top not your perennial powers -- they're not the teams you see at the top of annual recruiting rankings. Of the teams in the top 15 of the BCS standings, a number of teams jump out: Boston College, Arizona State, Oregon, Kansas, South Florida, Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia. None of these teams are at the top -- or often, even on -- the lists recruiting agencies put out.

It begs the question: Why? There are myriad reasons for the discrepancy. First, it's nearly impossible to correctly predict how a college player will do in the NFL -- much less how a 17-year-old will do in college. A number of great players fall under the radar because they're playing in the wrong position or system in high school. Some players have "flaws" -- like height or weight -- that correct themselves in college. But often it's a matter of hype. Coaches feel compelled to talk to the recruiting services because they're worried about getting a negative reputation if they don't. Schools that provide more information and access often wind up with higher grades than less forthcoming schools. The agencies, in turn, promote the schools whose fans will buy the most product. With so much at stake financially, and with so many different agendas in play, it's hard for anyone to approach the process impartially.