(Pace of play being an obvious issue in those last few games) when your team is drowning is poor coaching. The best coaches adjust. Slow pace worked until it didn’t and then Sitake and Arod were too lazy to try and adjust because “it got us to 9-0.”
The result? Going 1-2 to end the season, missing the CCG and CFP when you controlled your path. If you can say with a straight face that the team want lifeless in those last three games I’ve got an eye doctor for you to call. A slow pace certainly can pull the excitement and life out of a team once other teams have found out how to combat it.