[Goose]

It was a bad call to let Daniels throw deep in that situation.  Daniels has accuracy problems.  Taylor has acknowledged that.  The offence was making its way down the field and was already in field goal range to force OT.  If they stayed the course for a few more plays, worst case they'd be in chip-shot range, and possibly would have opened something up for a realistic shot at the end zone.  Even with a highly accurate QB, a ball thrown 45-55 yards in the air is a low probability play.  With an inaccurate passer, it puts the game at risk and, in this case, lost it.   And while it wasn't a good pass, I don't really blame Daniels.  He was playing well in his comfort zone, so it was a bone-head move to ask him to win the game on one big heave.

TT didn't ask him to win the game on one big heave, or even anything remotely like that. He asked him to go out there and make the correct play, which in this case was NOT to throw it to a double-covered Ayomanor.

Ayomanor wasn't the only receiver on the field. Looking at the replay highlights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiDYq3Vk_k8) Daniels had two receivers facing toward him with the defenders behind them. He could have taken the 6 yards or so easily and relatively safely. He never even looked at them. Stanford was on the 36 yard line. That makes it a 53 yard field goal. That is by no means a "gimme". Six more yards wouldn't have made it "easy" but would have been a heck of a lot more "makeable" for Kenney. I have no confidence he could kick a 53 yard field goal. 47 would still be a "reach". WF rushed only three and Daniels had a "clean" pocket. He had time to make a better read. Even if Daniels had "locked on" to Ayomanor he should have seen he was not open and throw the ball away. There were 28 seconds left when the ball was snapped. Stanford had time to run another play after an incomplete pass, call time-out and attempt a FG. Daniels is a Stanford student. None of this is beyond his comprehension.

You could argue that TT should not have trusted Daniels to make the right read because Daniels often doesn't. Stanford could have run the ball and attempted to get slightly better field position. However, if Stanford has to limit its play calling to plays that do not involve the QB making any "reads" at all, even simple ones, it will undoubtedly result in even worse production in general.

[Goose]

It was a bad call to let Daniels throw deep in that situation.  Daniels has accuracy problems.  Taylor has acknowledged that.  The offence was making its way down the field and was already in field goal range to force OT.  If they stayed the course for a few more plays, worst case they'd be in chip-shot range, and possibly would have opened something up for a realistic shot at the end zone.  Even with a highly accurate QB, a ball thrown 45-55 yards in the air is a low probability play.  With an inaccurate passer, it puts the game at risk and, in this case, lost it.   And while it wasn't a good pass, I don't really blame Daniels.  He was playing well in his comfort zone, so it was a bone-head move to ask him to win the game on one big heave.

TT didn't ask him to win the game on one big heave, or even anything remotely like that. He asked him to go out there and make the correct play, which in this case was NOT to throw it to a double-covered Ayomanor.

Ayomanor wasn't the only receiver on the field. Looking at the replay highlights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiDYq3Vk_k8) Daniels had two receivers facing toward him with the defenders behind them. He could have taken the 6 yards or so easily and relatively safely. He never even looked at them. Stanford was on the 36 yard line. That makes it a 53 yard field goal. That is by no means a "gimme". Six more yards wouldn't have made it "easy" but would have been a heck of a lot more "makeable" for Kenney. I have no confidence he could kick a 53 yard field goal. 47 would still be a "reach". WF rushed only three and Daniels had a "clean" pocket. He had time to make a better read. Even if Daniels had "locked on" to Ayomanor he should have seen he was not open and throw the ball away. There were 28 seconds left when the ball was snapped. Stanford had time to run another play after an incomplete pass, call time-out and attempt a FG. Daniels is a Stanford student. None of this is beyond his comprehension.

You could argue that TT should not have trusted Daniels to make the right read because Daniels often doesn't. Stanford could have run the ball and attempted to get slightly better field position. However, if Stanford has to limit its play calling to plays that do not involve the QB making any "reads" at all, even simple ones, it will undoubtedly result in even worse production in general.