The Final Four

As coaches, we want to be prepared for every situation that may happen during a game. One of those situations is having 30 seconds left on the clock, one or no timeouts, and needing a field goal or touchdown to win or tie. How many times will this happen to you? It\'s only happened to me once - in the 1992 NAIA I national championship game between Gardner Webb University and Central State (Ohio). I was offensive coordinator for head coach Woody Fish at Gardner Webb. I wish I could tell you that we drove the ball 80 yards for the winning touchdown or tying field goal. We didn\'t. However, all the players and coaches felt confident we could do it. Our drive ended when we gave up two sacks to a future first round NFL draft choice, after driving into Central State\'s territory. This is where proper planning helped lessen the stress that we faced and helped us get in a position to win.