Well, no think about this.
Let's say everything being equal (50 yrd punt from where the punter punts the ball, and the ball has to make it to the 30 for a field goal). If they punt from the back of the end zone, it could get blocked, but if not, the ball is on their own 40 so Auburn has to get 10 yards to tie, 40 yards to win. If they punt from the 20, Auburn gets the ball on their own 30, so they have to go 40 yards to win and no chance to get it blocked. So, if Auburn only is able to get 10 yards, they have a chance to send it into overtime and still win in one scenario, but will lose with the other. If Auburn gains 40 yards they win if the punt was from the end zone, but they'd still have to kick the field goal for a chance to win. So as much as it looks like a bad choice at first site, when you look at it a little deeper it's not THAT bad a choice. It's just that it goes against 'the book'.
It's like 'the book' says to run the ball when you're trying to run out the clock because if you throw an incomplete pass it stops the clock. But if a coach does call a pass and it works, he's a genius. If it doesn't, he's an idiot. But same thing if a coach runs it on 3rd down, doesn't get it, punts it and the other team goes down, scores and wins the game. He's an idiot for not trying to get the first down instead of just running down the clock.
Same thing with the above scenario. If the punt gets blocked or Auburn ties the game and then wins in overtime, it was a terrible choice. Same thing if they take the safety and Auburn kicks the FG to win. But if they end up winning for either choice, then they're geniuses. As it turned out Auburn fumbled so we didn't get a chance to see what might have happened. Which if fine by me because I wanted A&M to win.
