A well-executed fake punt is really high up on the list of awesome college football plays. When a team is able to get the ball to their punter (or, in some cases, one of the lead blockers) and get a first down, it’s usually a ton of fun, as the play requires some amount of creativity by coaches and for their players to execute to perfection.
Neither of those things happened during the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl between Duke and Northern Illinois. During the first quarter, the Huskies were facing a 4th-and-18 from deep inside their own territory. There was zero reason to try a fake punt, but by god, did they go for it, anyway.
The ball was snapped to Northern Illinois’ punter. The call was for a passing play. They needed to gain 18 yards, but instead, this happened.
4th and 18 in your own endzone, why not fake it? #MACtion pic.twitter.com/lX55nmdXtV
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) December 26, 2017
So yes, the execution by the players could have been better, but what on earth were Northern Illinois’ coaches thinking calling this play in this situation? They are asking their punter to throw a dart from where he normally lines up to a receiver who needs to go 18 yards for a first down. Asking a college quarterback to throw the ball nearly 30 yards on a rope is tough, asking a punter to do that is insanity.
And even worse, despite the fact that the Huskies need to get to the 29, the ball bounces at the 24. They ran a play designed to get, at most, 13 yards on 4th-and-18 from their own 11. I am all for taking risks in bowl games, especially ones that are outside of the Playoffs/New Year’s Six. But even by that standard, this was way too much.
