BYU coach Kalani Sitake will win a lot of plaudits for his strategy to ice the kicker in BYU’s 24-21 upset over Wisconsin.
Sitake called back-to-back timeouts with 41 seconds left to ice Wisconsin kicker Rafael Gaglianone just before he attempted a 42-yard field goal to try to tie the game. Gaglianone ultimately shanked the kick wide left, and the Cougars walked out of Camp Randall Stadium with a stunning upset victory.
Sitake didn’t bother to sugarcoat his intentions when interviewed after the game.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake to Allison Williams when asked about icing the kicker with back-to-back timeouts: “Just theatrics.” Well, apparently it worked.
— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) September 15, 2018
BYU’s strategy was not without risk. Had Gaglianone made the field goal, the Cougars would have had roughly 40 seconds to try to drive into field goal range and win it themselves. Had Sitake let the Badgers kick it immediately, he’d have had all three timeouts at his disposal. His strategy left the team with just one, which surely would have been criticized had the field goal been successful.
Icing the kicker is a risky and controversial strategy that can sometimes backfire. It didn’t here, and Sitake can take the plaudits.
