Trailing 24-17 in the third quarter to Wake Forest, the Virginia Tech football team moved the ball in Wake's territory on Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium. The Hokies and interim coach Philip Montgomery were facing a fourth-and-2 at the Demon Deacons' 29-yard line.
The fact that Virginia Tech was only trailing by seven points in the game was surprising, given the mistakes they had made. Instead of going for it inside the Wake Forest 30-yard line, Montgomery settled for a John Love field goal to cut the deficit to 27-23. It was surprising that Montgomery didn't roll the dice and go for it.
Philip Montgomery explains third quarter decision to kick a field goal
Trailing by seven, at home, needing a boost, Montgomery had an opportunity to change some of the momentum in the game. Instead, he played it safe and settled for three points.
"Yeah, right there, we had a good drive going,'' Montgomery said. "Fourth-and-2. Two yards is a lot of yards in that scenario, and with John as our kicker, I trust that guy. We needed the points. There was still quite a bit of time left in the game. So, I'm going to go ahead and take my points and know our defense is going to come out and play well. And we're going to get more opportunities, and that scenario showed itself. We just got to finish it."
Everybody trusts John Love, he's going to be kicking on Sundays in the NFL, but as the interim coach, rolling the dice and going for it was the call to make. Your offense was sputtering at times, and it would have given them some confidence to go for it and get it.
The defense was making mistakes throughout the game until that point, gifting the Demon Deacons points with penalties. Going for it made sense at the time and still does. He gambled last week against North Carolina State, and it worked. He didn't go against Wake Forest and lost by seven. He had nothing to lose as the interim coach and did the rest of the season, which is why taking those chances makes sense.