[Goose]

How about the final 2 minutes @ Washington this year where Shaw made substitutions WHILE THE CLOCK WAS RUNNING!! Arguably made the difference between the Sun Bowl and the Rose Bowl.

It was not the fact we substituted that took the time. We got our guys out there pretty fast and it probably cost very little clock. It was the fact that doing so allowed Washington to substitute, and they took their sweet time doing it. Shaw apparently didn't consider this second effect. To be fair, the officials have to allow the other team a "reasonable" time to substitute. At the time, I felt the ref stood over the ball (with the clock running) for much longer than necessary. Washington was ready to go and he didn't start play. However, counting on the refs to do anything particularly well (especially PAC-12 refs) is a mistake.
Unless I am remembering incorrectly, we substituted twice on that final drive, both times getting a clock run-down that we could ill afford. The first time could be somewhat excused based on not realizing how much time the refs would allow Washington to do their substitution. The second time, you don't have that excuse. If we got ourselves in a bind by having the wrong people out there for the plays we needed to run, that is on us. A "hurry up" offense has to be just that. It was a mistake to be in that situation, period. You play like you practice. Did we practice substituting (with the clock running) in the two minute offense? If so,  the coaches should have realized in the practice sessions that the defense would "slow roll" their response as much as they are allowed to. That should have removed such substitutions from the plan right then, even if this was not obvious before. If we didn't practice it, we weren't adequately prepared. While it is true practice time is limited, you can't practice all situations every week, etc, I think we were just not prepared. Especially after out problems at the end of the TCU game the year before, I expected more emphasis on two minute offense both during the summer and in game preparation. The coaches executed poorly. I don't think this error will be repeated. We may still lose in some "comeback" situations, but not for this reason.

[Goose]

How about the final 2 minutes @ Washington this year where Shaw made substitutions WHILE THE CLOCK WAS RUNNING!! Arguably made the difference between the Sun Bowl and the Rose Bowl.

It was not the fact we substituted that took the time. We got our guys out there pretty fast and it probably cost very little clock. It was the fact that doing so allowed Washington to substitute, and they took their sweet time doing it. Shaw apparently didn't consider this second effect. To be fair, the officials have to allow the other team a "reasonable" time to substitute. At the time, I felt the ref stood over the ball (with the clock running) for much longer than necessary. Washington was ready to go and he didn't start play. However, counting on the refs to do anything particularly well (especially PAC-12 refs) is a mistake.
Unless I am remembering incorrectly, we substituted twice on that final drive, both times getting a clock run-down that we could ill afford. The first time could be somewhat excused based on not realizing how much time the refs would allow Washington to do their substitution. The second time, you don't have that excuse. If we got ourselves in a bind by having the wrong people out there for the plays we needed to run, that is on us. A "hurry up" offense has to be just that. It was a mistake to be in that situation, period. You play like you practice. Did we practice substituting (with the clock running) in the two minute offense? If so,  the coaches should have realized in the practice sessions that the defense would "slow roll" their response as much as they are allowed to. That should have removed such substitutions from the plan right then, even if this was not obvious before. If we didn't practice it, we weren't adequately prepared. While it is true practice time is limited, you can't practice all situations every week, etc, I think we were just not prepared. Especially after out problems at the end of the TCU game the year before, I expected more emphasis on two minute offense both during the summer and in game preparation. The coaches executed poorly. I don't think this error will be repeated. We may still lose in some "comeback" situations, but not for this reason.