Fans are great at second-guessing coaches.
After all, most fans are undefeated in their coaching careers.
Yet there are times when the fans are right and the coach is wrong.
Sunday was one of those times.
It was the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Browns were trailing the Philadelphia Eagles, 10-9.
It was a typical Browns game in which Cleveland had generated little offense and no touchdowns.
Then, with 13:59 to play, D'Qwell Jackson intercepted a Michael Vick pass and returned it 27 yards for the Browns first touchdown of the season.
The scoreboard read Cleveland 15, Philadelphia 10.
Those of us following the game naturally assumed the Browns would go for two so that an Eagles touchdown would only tie the game.
But -incredibly - out came kicker Phil Dawson, who booted the extra point for a 16-10 lead.
If you have followed the Browns long enough, you knew what was coming after such a bonehead move by head coach Pat Shurmur.
Sure enough, with 1:18 to go, Vick throws a 4-yard TD pass to Clay Harbor, the Eagles kick the extra point and win, 17-16.
Cleveland -which always finds a new way to lose -had done it again.
It wasn't long after the loss that my e-mail lit up with quite a rant from a local Browns fan who will remain anonymous.
Of course, everything he said was right.
The headlines read that Philadelphia beat Cleveland but this was more like Cleveland beating Cleveland.
Speaking of coaching: If you stay up as late as I do -and believe me I don't recommend that you do -then you may have witnessed the Saturday night-Sunday morning dismantling of Oklahoma State by Rich Rodriguez's Arizona team.
When the visiting Cowboys jumped out to a 14-0 lead, one wondereed if Rodriguez wasn't going to suffer a lop-sided blowout. Then, Arizona exploded and dominated a team that nearly played for the national title a year ago.
The Wildcats were rewarded with a No. 25 ranking.
Just the mention of Rodriguez's name evokes a great deal of emotion in West Virginia, where he has many friends and many detractors.
But no one can question his ability to prepare a football team. It was a breakthrough win for Arizona.
Upset Alert: While I still stand by my earlier statement that Ohio is the most likely major college football team to go undefeated, the Bobcats may find the going tough come Saturday evening.
That's when coach Frank Solich takes his team to Huntington to meet Marshall University.
The Bobcats are a 7-point favorite and rightfully so. But this is a dangerous Marshall team that has enough offense to compete with Ohio.
Plus, the Cats ran all over the Herd last year in Athens and Marshall hasn't forgotten that beating.
So, before ESPN does it, I'm putting the Cats on upset alert.
Contact Dave Poe at dpoe@newsandsentinel.com
