Football coaches carry a card that tells them when to go for a two-point conversion. Like an appendix, they don't need it, but they have it anyway.
The basic rule to remember is: Go for two when you have to. (There is one exception to this rule but more on that later.)
N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien and UNC coach Butch Davis each faced a "to go, or not to go" decision in their respective bowl games. Did the coaches get it right?
• Up 23-19 with 9:21 left in the game, O'Brien decided to go for two. Did State "have" to go for two? No, it does not pass the test.
But given how bad Rutgers kicker San San Te was and how much Rutgers struggled with the kicking game, O'Brien decided to go for two to make it a six-point game, meaning if Rutgers scored a touchdown, there was still a chance the game would be tied. That was a manageable risk given the circumstance.
However, the safe move was to kick the extra point. That makes it a five-point game. If Rutgers had scored just one touchdown, a field goal still wins the game for N.C. State.
• Up 29-24 with 4:29 left in the third quarter, Davis decided to kick the PAT. Did UNC "have" to go for two? No. This passes the test.
Given the pinball scoring in the first half, Davis would have had to have been clairvoyant to think this would be the final touchdown scored by his team with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
He took the point, making it 30-24. Ultimately, UNC lost by a point but this was still the right call by Davis.
If UNC had scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, then Davis should have — and probably would have gone for two — but in the third quarter, it makes no sense because if you miss — and West Virginia scores twice (again the pinball scoring) — you're down 38-29 and you can't win in one possession.
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As for the exception to the rule, if you can win the game with a two-pointer. Do it. (See Boise State in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl or the Denver Broncos in Week 2 of this NFL season.)
You're not going to get a better situation than the ball in your hands on the 3-yard-line. There are too many variables in overtime, or in the case of the Boise State game, another overtime.
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Examples of when you have to go for two:
• Down eight (before the touchdown) in the fourth quarter (duh).
• Down 5 in the fourth quarter.
• Down 11 in the fourth quarter.
• Down 16 in the fourth quarter.
• Down 24 at any point (note: this is the only approved time to go for two in the first half).
• Up 1 (after the touchdown) in the fourth quarter.
• Up 5 in the fourth quarter.
• Up 12 in the fourth quarter.
