4th-down gamble fails
DETROIT — Coaching Western Kentucky for one game before moving on to an uncertain future, Lance Guidry had to make a crucial decision with the game on the line.
Fourth down, 51 seconds remaining. Kick a field goal and play for overtime, or go for the win?
“That was all the players. We were going to kick the field goal, but they told me that they were here to win the game,” Guidry said. “I asked everyone and they wanted to go for it so we took the chance.”
The Hilltoppers went for it and the move backfired when Kawaun Jakes threw incomplete on fourth-and-2 from the 19-yard line, giving Central Michigan a 24-21 win Wednesday night in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Even so, there was little regret afterward.
“I’m going to get back to my family, because I haven’t seen them in a while,” Guidry said. “Then I’m off to the coaches’ convention to try to find a job.”
Guidry was Western Kentucky’s defensive coordinator, but he was put in charge on an interim basis for this bowl after coach Willie Taggart left to take over the program at South Florida. Next season, Bobby Petrino will coach the Hilltoppers.
The finish to this game — Western Kentucky’s first bowl since joining college football’s top tier in 2009 — won’t be forgotten any time soon. Ryan Radcliff had thrown an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cody Wilson with 5:11 remaining to give Central Michigan (7-6) the lead, but the Hilltoppers (7-6) drove back down the field until their chances ended when Jakes’ pass intended for Jack Doyle fell incomplete.
“I don’t know what I would have done,” Central Michigan coach Dan Enos said. “But I will never second-guess a coach for trying to win.”
Radcliff went 19 of 29 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, but Central Michigan needed to rally late.
Down 21-17, Zurlon Tipton appeared to have put the Chippewas ahead in the fourth quarter, but his fourth-down run was ruled short of the goal line after a review.
