An insurmountable lead where a top-ten ranked team’s coach chooses to no longer score seems to be something like 70-7 when the backups have been in for a while.
I speculate that slowing down with only a 17 point lead with even a couple minutes left messes with the killer mindset coaches need the team to have to prevent comebacks on the part of the other team. Wouldn’t be surprised if this has indirectly contributed in part to losses in subsequent games in prior years and I’d be disappointed to see the practice reemerge.