[Austroturf]

After Thursday's win over Arizona State, I spent a fair amount of time "discussing" this issue on Twitter. You know how the argument went -- if Shaw hadn't gone into turtle mode, things wouldn't have been so close in the end. My response was that he had played the percentages and won. I also wondered whether or not this philosophy had ever bitten him. Had he ever been too conservative with a lead and then ended up losing? I honestly didn't know the answer, so last night I spent in inordinate amount of time looking at every loss of Shaw's career. The short answer -- No, he hasn't. For the long answer, click below.

https://www.gomightycard.com/2018/10/ris...-game.html

The general consensus on this board is that Shaw did not turtle against OK State in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl (after the 2011 season), because that requires having a lead and defending it; but playing conservatively did lose the game.  Tied at 38 and driving, Shaw did not want to risk his secure FG position and, instead of putting the game on Luck's arm, decided to try Williamson's foot.  With plenty of time for some passing plays at the end-zone, Shaw kept it on the ground and ran the clock down to only a few seconds.  We all know how that turned out.  

In my view, the Michigan State loss in the 2014 Rose Bowl (after the 2013 season) was an extended case of turtling and showed Shaw at his most aggravatingly conservative.  Yes, Stanford only led 17-14 at the half; but MSU made adjustments and became significantly more aggressive in the second half, with Connor Cook passing a lot more, while Shaw stuck stubbornly to the run-game, which simply was not working.  Then, with MSU leading 24-17 and Stanford needing at least a TD to tie, Shaw kicked a FG with 4:15 left on the clock from the MSU 22.  The team had not been that close to the goal line all second half; but rather than go for it to get the tie and force OT, Shaw kicked the FG and hoped to get a chance to score a TD later in the game.  Well, our D did get the stop; and we got the ball back with 2:40 on our own 29.  But did Shaw then air it out to get down the field for the winning TD? Four straight runs of 4, 4, 1 and 0 yards ended the game.  

There are other cases, as well, some resulting in victories, others in defeat.  Answer to your question: yes, Shaw is too conservative.  Has he lost a game due to turtling?  Technically, he may still perfect in this area.

[Austroturf]

After Thursday's win over Arizona State, I spent a fair amount of time "discussing" this issue on Twitter. You know how the argument went -- if Shaw hadn't gone into turtle mode, things wouldn't have been so close in the end. My response was that he had played the percentages and won. I also wondered whether or not this philosophy had ever bitten him. Had he ever been too conservative with a lead and then ended up losing? I honestly didn't know the answer, so last night I spent in inordinate amount of time looking at every loss of Shaw's career. The short answer -- No, he hasn't. For the long answer, click below.

https://www.gomightycard.com/2018/10/ris...-game.html

The general consensus on this board is that Shaw did not turtle against OK State in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl (after the 2011 season), because that requires having a lead and defending it; but playing conservatively did lose the game.  Tied at 38 and driving, Shaw did not want to risk his secure FG position and, instead of putting the game on Luck's arm, decided to try Williamson's foot.  With plenty of time for some passing plays at the end-zone, Shaw kept it on the ground and ran the clock down to only a few seconds.  We all know how that turned out.  

In my view, the Michigan State loss in the 2014 Rose Bowl (after the 2013 season) was an extended case of turtling and showed Shaw at his most aggravatingly conservative.  Yes, Stanford only led 17-14 at the half; but MSU made adjustments and became significantly more aggressive in the second half, with Connor Cook passing a lot more, while Shaw stuck stubbornly to the run-game, which simply was not working.  Then, with MSU leading 24-17 and Stanford needing at least a TD to tie, Shaw kicked a FG with 4:15 left on the clock from the MSU 22.  The team had not been that close to the goal line all second half; but rather than go for it to get the tie and force OT, Shaw kicked the FG and hoped to get a chance to score a TD later in the game.  Well, our D did get the stop; and we got the ball back with 2:40 on our own 29.  But did Shaw then air it out to get down the field for the winning TD? Four straight runs of 4, 4, 1 and 0 yards ended the game.  

There are other cases, as well, some resulting in victories, others in defeat.  Answer to your question: yes, Shaw is too conservative.  Has he lost a game due to turtling?  Technically, he may still perfect in this area.