Sherrone Moore gives puzzling answer on late-game timeout

Chris Breiler | Nov 9, 2024

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trailing five points with just 1:35 left in the 4th quarter, Michigan still had all of its timeouts and a slim chance of getting the ball back with an opportunity to tie or win the game. It was a longshot at best, but a longshot is better than no shot.

Indiana snapped the ball and reeled off an 8-yard run on first down, setting up a 2nd and two with about 1:25 left on the clock. It was at this point that you would have expected head coach Sherrone Moore to use one of his timeouts to try and stop the clock and give his team a chance to get the ball back. But instead of calling the timeout immediately, Moore allowed precious seconds to tick off the clock before electing to call a timeout - 28 seconds, to be exact.

On the very next play, Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke ran for a first down, sealing the win for the Hoosiers.

Following the game, Moore was asked about the decision to allow critical seconds to run of the clock before calling a timeout. Here was his answer:

Why did Michigan wait to call a timeout late in the fourth quarter after Indiana’s 8-yard run?

Sherrone Moore explains:

“Just talking about conversations of what the play call was gonna be, what we were gonna do.” pic.twitter.com/d8p8YMrKNx
— Brock Heilig (@brockheilig) November 10, 2024

“Yea, just talking about conversations of what the play call was going to be; what we were going to do. That’s where that all came from.”

Look, I'm far from being a football guru and I'll never pretend to know more about football than the actual coaches do, but that seems like a specific instance where Moore was unprepared for the moment. To be fair, it was highly likely that Indiana would have picked up the first down regardless of when the timeout was called, and the game would have been over at that point anyway. But the decision to let 28 seconds run off the clock before calling a timeout was a bad look.

I like Sherrone Moore but man, he needs help. He needs clock management help. He needs replay help. He needs a new OC.
— MGoFish (@MGoFish) November 10, 2024

Sherrone Moore just a completely inexcusable clock management lapse.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 10, 2024

Why did Sherrone Moore waste 30 seconds and THEN call the timeout?

Odd decision there.
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) November 10, 2024

I still believe that Sherrone Moore can get this program back to where it needs to be in 2025, but it will require some difficult decisions in the off-season in order to do so. He'll need to surround himself with an elite staff that can help eliminate many of the self-inflicted mistakes we've seen week after week.

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