Pete Golding watched Ole Miss have a 58-yard field goal blocked in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s 34-27 loss to Texas.
But when asked about that decision after the game, the Ole Miss coach pointed to a different field goal. One he never attempted.
“What I was really kicking myself about almost is the decision before the half,” Golding said in his post-game press conference.
With Ole Miss trailing 24-3 late in the second quarter, the Rebels had fourth-and-goal from the Texas 2-yard line.
It was the closest Ole Miss had gotten to the end zone all night, and with the Longhorns set to receive the second-half kickoff, Golding decided to take a chance.
Instead of sending Lucas Carneiro out for a short field goal, the Rebels went for the touchdown.
“We were at the 2 and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a good two-point play that we like. This is as close as we’ve been. Let’s go take our shot,'” Golding said.
Trinidad Chambliss’ pass was intercepted by Rasheem Biles, and the Rebels went into halftime trailing by 21 points.
At the time, it was an understandable decision.
Ole Miss had struggled offensively throughout the first half, and there was little reason to believe three points were going to make much of a difference against a Texas team that had controlled the game.
A touchdown, on the other hand, would’ve made it a 14-point game heading into halftime.
And considering how poorly the first half had gone, who could really blame Golding for trying?
But then the second half happened.
Ole Miss scored 21 unanswered points, tying the game at 24-24 just over a minute into the fourth quarter.
Suddenly, those three points left on the field before halftime looked a lot more important.
“When you’re clawing back in games, points matter,” Golding said.
Of course, it’s easy to look back and say Ole Miss would’ve been leading 27-24 if Carneiro had kicked that field goal and everything else had played out the same way.
Football doesn’t work like that. A different score could’ve changed how both teams approached the entire second half.
But the fact that Ole Miss came all the way back makes Golding’s regret understandable.
It also helps explain why he chose to attempt that 58-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
By then, Texas had reclaimed a 31-24 lead, and the Rebels faced fourth-and-10. Golding didn’t like the chances of converting and believed Carneiro could make the kick.
More importantly, he was thinking about what would happen if Texas scored again.
A successful field goal would’ve cut the deficit to four points. Even if Texas answered with another field goal, Ole Miss would still have been within one touchdown of tying the game.
“You’re worried about, OK, if they go down and kick a field goal, it’s a two-possession game, which is what happened, right?” Golding said.
Unfortunately for Ole Miss, Carneiro’s kick was blocked, and Texas took advantage of the field position to add another three points.
Instead of a seven-point game, the Rebels were trailing by 10.
There were plenty of other opportunities Ole Miss failed to capitalize on Saturday, including another first-half interception that came immediately after the Rebels’ defense had forced a turnover.
Any one of those missed opportunities could’ve changed the outcome.
But the one Golding was thinking about afterward was that fourth-and-goal decision before halftime.
It’s hard to fault him for wanting seven points when Ole Miss was down 21.
It’s just as easy to understand why, after watching his team erase that deficit, he wished he’d taken the three.
