End of Half Clock Management

[Nightowl_99]

Clock management at the end of either half leaves me scratching my head. I see teams in the lead trying to run out the clock, which is fine. No time outs left for the opponent. Why snap the ball with so much time left on the play clock? I don't get it. It sometimes results in the offense having to punt when they could've drained the clock and not given the ball back to the opponent. I understand that different teams have different approaches. But in these instances, judging from real life, nearly all teams handle the clock roughly the same way. If there's an opportunity to drain the clock, a team will do it. Or am I missing something obvious?

[brooks_piggott]

At the end of the game the team should kick over to a slow tempo which uses more clock to try and grind out the win. But it can be overridden by coach aggressiveness.

[Nightowl_99]

It would be the rarest of coaches who would not drain the clock and keep the opponent from getting the ball back. Coach aggressiveness should have its limits, I would think. I'll keep an eye on it, though. Otherwise, I think the game is outstanding in many ways. Kudos to you and your team.

[Nightowl_99]

OK. I've examined some play by play results. For the most part, the AI seems sensible. I do wonder why a team on offense burns their timeouts, one after another after another, on three consecutive plays, even though there is still more than one minute remaining. It might be more judicious to save one or two for inside a minute. That seems to be more common IRL, from what I've seen. I still think the ball is sometimes snapped with too much time left on the play clock. Here's an example from the first half of a bowl game. Once the team on offense is sacked on first down, it is obvious they decide to run out the clock and head to the locker room. Instead of just letting the clock run after the sack, however (and allow the sack to be the last play of the first half), they snap the ball a couple of more times (two short runs) and then punt! Now, that doesn't make much sense, if you ask me. But maybe that's just me.

[Nightowl_99]

Sorry, I'm not sure how to post a screenshot.

[Colly]

I think there's a huge opportunity to improve game clock management for those of us who play the game by playing each and every down on both sides of the ball. Some seriously weird things happen currently that do not make much sense, to be honest, and I swear have cost me games.

Pro Strategy Football does a really good job of letting the player define clock strategies on each down.

[Nightowl_99]

The AI clock management is better than I expected, to be honest. So, I don't want to give the wrong impression. However, when the outcome of a game hangs in the balance, you want to trust the AI to make sensible decisions. One more observation. It seems to me that, from play to play, the ball is snapped too quickly, in general. I'm not talking about a hurry up offense. I'm referring to routine plays. For example, I commonly see something like 30 seconds elapse from one play to the next (with the clock running). If the play itself takes 5 or 6 seconds to happen, then that means the offense is snapping the ball with 15 or 20 seconds left on the play clock.

[Nightowl_99]

If I may, let me describe another end-of-game head-scratcher. Iowa leads South Carolina, 31-28. Iowa has just recovered an on-side kick. SC has no time outs left. 90 seconds remain on the clock. Iowa can do two (maybe three) kneeldowns and the game is over. Instead, this is what happens:

1:30 Offense kneels the ball.
1:13 Rush by Gillen, C. for 0 yds.
0:54 Rush by Reno, R. for 0 yds.
0:37 Punt by Chew, A of 51 yards. Touchback.

Then SC is able to run four plays before time expires.

[Nightowl_99]

Again, I don't want to come across as harsh. So far, this is the only sore spot for me. All in all, the game is terrific!

[Nightowl_99]

I'm still baffled at the end of half AI logic. More often than not, it makes no sense. I chose a game at random and checked the PbP. Oklahoma vs. Middle Tennessee State. Oklahoma kicks a FG to go up 13-7 with seven seconds remaining in the first half. The KO results in a touchback. MTSU seems content to run out the clock. Now, they could simply do a kneel-down. Instead, they run the ball and gain 0 yards. Remember:
there were 7 seconds left when the ball was snapped. Then, somehow, there is still enough time on the clock after the run, clearing the pile, and getting everyone to the line of scrimmage for MTSU to snap the ball with 1 second left. That borders on mystical! What does MTSU do? Passes the ball for a 2 yard gain. Really? I don't understand the logic.

Now, to the fourth quarter. Oklahoma has a 37-7 lead. MTSU is conceding the win, taking no time outs at all. Oklahoma at 1:47 runs the ball for a first down. At this point, they could do a couple of kneel-downs and the game is over. Instead, they run the ball again ... and fumble. MTSU takes over at its own 16 yard line. Down by 30, do they continue to wave the white flag? No, they pass the ball! But not downfield, just some short stuff. They end up turning the ball over on downs with 41 seconds left. Now, surely, Oklahoma will do a kneel down to end the game, right? Nope! They run the ball for 10 yards. Then they apparently hurry back to the line of scrimmage so they can run one more play with 17 seconds left. Another run, and that's it. I don't mean to be harsh, but how does any of that make sense?