Opinion: College football in general has become increasingly unwatchable

[champs99and04]

Lost in the hysteria of concussions and Title IX investigations and conference realignment is the fact that the sport itself is changing. That change has been positive in a vacuum - coaches are smarter, offenses are more sophisticated, and players in general are better. Somewhere along the line, somebody whispered in somebody else's ear that you gain more yardage by throwing than running, and off we were. Then we figured out that it's beneficial for offenses if we run as many plays as possible in as little time as possible so that defenses are at an even greater disadvantage than they already were. This increase in number of plays run and time of possession has resulted in a couple of things:

1. The games take longer - it doesn't take a genius to figure that the less you run the ball, the less time comes off the clock. It's also quite apparent that when drives are lasting two minutes instead of five, there is more room for commercials and stoppages. Add in all the injuries, reviews, and penalties, and you have what we do now: a sport that is built on the premise that there is a saturation point for everything (short season, one game per week, etc.) doing the opposite of that to appease fans watching games. I can't watch a whole college football game. The Indiana-Ohio State game started at 8 last night and finished near midnight.

2. With more plays being run, depth has become more important. This ultimately widens the gap between the haves and the have nots and makes it more difficult for a program like UConn to compete. Also widening the gap is the fact that with more plays comes a larger sample for superiority to ultimately win out. Any given Saturday loses some charm when that becomes Any given Saturday + half.

3. These up-tempo offenses might be effective, but they're gimmicky and completely contrary to the way the sport was meant to be played - they're kind of like shifts in baseball where you go, "this used to be better when people were less smart." Offense vs. defense used to be a prize fight and now it's turned into a track meet in which one runner is sprinting forward and the other is back-pedaling. It feels like the steroid era in baseball.

None of this is new so much as it has been normalized to the point where you almost have to conform. That's how you end up with Randy Edsall running the hurry up offense (and last night, he was right). The NFL has a lot of these same problems.

I still enjoy following college football, and I get the sense that I'm in the minority on this one, but some of the football purists on here have to agree with me, right?

 

[JMick]

I think CFB is the best it's ever been. Unfortunately for us we're not sitting at the right table.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

UConn Football has been unwatchable and conference realignment has sucked.

If we were winning 8 games in the ACC, we'd be pretty damn pumped.

 

[bmayuc]

Lost in the hysteria of concussions and Title IX investigations and conference realignment is the fact that the sport itself is changing. That change has been positive in a vacuum - coaches are smarter, offenses are more sophisticated, and players in general are better. Somewhere along the line, somebody whispered in somebody else's ear that you gain more yardage by throwing than running, and off we were. Then we figured out that it's beneficial for offenses if we run as many plays as possible in as little time as possible so that defenses are at an even greater disadvantage than they already were. This increase in number of plays run and time of possession has resulted in a couple of things:

1. The games take longer - it doesn't take a genius to figure that the less you run the ball, the less time comes off the clock. It's also quite apparent that when drives are lasting two minutes instead of five, there is more room for commercials and stoppages. Add in all the injuries, reviews, and penalties, and you have what we do now: a sport that is built on the premise that there is a saturation point for everything (short season, one game per week, etc.) doing the opposite of that to appease fans watching games. I can't watch a whole college football game. The Indiana-Ohio State game started at 8 last night and finished near midnight.

2. With more plays being run, depth has become more important. This ultimately widens the gap between the haves and the have nots and makes it more difficult for a program like UConn to compete. Also widening the gap is the fact that with more plays comes a larger sample for superiority to ultimately win out. Any given Saturday loses some charm when that becomes Any given Saturday + half.

3. These up-tempo offenses might be effective, but they're gimmicky and completely contrary to the way the sport was meant to be played - they're kind of like shifts in baseball where you go, "this used to be better when people were less smart." Offense vs. defense used to be a prize fight and now it's turned into a track meet in which one runner is sprinting forward and the other is back-pedaling. It feels like the steroid era in baseball.

None of this is new so much as it has been normalized to the point where you almost have to conform. That's how you end up with Randy Edsall running the hurry up offense (and last night, he was right). The NFL has a lot of these same problems.

I still enjoy following college football, and I get the sense that I'm in the minority on this one, but some of the football purists on here have to agree with me, right?

This is #FakeNews. College Football is the absolute innovation hub of the sport. The game is fast, wide-open, and fun as hell.

Particularly appalling:
*contrary to the way the game was meant to be played* - By this stupid logic, the forward pass should still be outlawed. So, so dumb.

 

[Bliss]

Still better than the pro game that requires about a day and a half to complete with all the TV commercials.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Lost in the hysteria of concussions and Title IX investigations and conference realignment is the fact that the sport itself is changing. That change has been positive in a vacuum - coaches are smarter, offenses are more sophisticated, and players in general are better. Somewhere along the line, somebody whispered in somebody else's ear that you gain more yardage by throwing than running, and off we were. Then we figured out that it's beneficial for offenses if we run as many plays as possible in as little time as possible so that defenses are at an even greater disadvantage than they already were. This increase in number of plays run and time of possession has resulted in a couple of things:

1. The games take longer - it doesn't take a genius to figure that the less you run the ball, the less time comes off the clock. It's also quite apparent that when drives are lasting two minutes instead of five, there is more room for commercials and stoppages. Add in all the injuries, reviews, and penalties, and you have what we do now: a sport that is built on the premise that there is a saturation point for everything (short season, one game per week, etc.) doing the opposite of that to appease fans watching games. I can't watch a whole college football game. The Indiana-Ohio State game started at 8 last night and finished near midnight.

2. With more plays being run, depth has become more important. This ultimately widens the gap between the haves and the have nots and makes it more difficult for a program like UConn to compete. Also widening the gap is the fact that with more plays comes a larger sample for superiority to ultimately win out. Any given Saturday loses some charm when that becomes Any given Saturday + half.

3. These up-tempo offenses might be effective, but they're gimmicky and completely contrary to the way the sport was meant to be played - they're kind of like shifts in baseball where you go, "this used to be better when people were less smart." Offense vs. defense used to be a prize fight and now it's turned into a track meet in which one runner is sprinting forward and the other is back-pedaling. It feels like the steroid era in baseball.

None of this is new so much as it has been normalized to the point where you almost have to conform. That's how you end up with Randy Edsall running the hurry up offense (and last night, he was right). The NFL has a lot of these same problems.

I still enjoy following college football, and I get the sense that I'm in the minority on this one, but some of the football purists on here have to agree with me, right?

I love it. As a UConn fan I know it's blasphemous but it's college basketball that I can't stand. The one and done thing is killing the sport.

 

[Walker11]

I love it. As a UConn fan I know it's blasphemous but it's college basketball that I can't stand. The one and done thing is killing the sport.

Agreed. It is more than the 1 and done but college hoops sucks. If Uconn basketball wasn't a part of me I would have 0 interest. College football on the other hand has never been more captivating.

 

[J187Money]

I agree on the length - I had to drive my son back to his dorm outside Boston last night and I didn't get to my hotel till 2am.

Game shouldn't take 4 hours.

 

[bigAbruns]

I love it, especially if there are two good games on tv, however when watching in person those commercial breaks do get annoying.

 

[businesslawyer]

The game was unwatchable. If a game is going 3.5 hours, it can't be because of the constant insufferably long delays.

 

[Excalibur]

Agreed. It is more than the 1 and done but college hoops sucks. If Uconn basketball wasn't a part of me I would have 0 interest. College football on the other hand has never been more captivating.

And that's it. I rarely watch a college basketball game from beginning to end that doesn't involve UConn. I'll watch two college football teams that I care nothing about play, and enjoy it.

The length of the game is a problem, and something needs to be done to give defenses a fighting chance (start by just calling OPI on the roughly 6 million pick plays we see every game), but the games themselves are as captivating as they have ever been.

The OP tried to logically explain his position, but betrayed that with "the way the game should be played" and "football purists". We should all get off his lawn . . .

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

OP started a thread about the game last night on the hoops board. Looked like some were relishing the fact we struggled. Precious considering Wagner and Northeastern last year. Our fan base sucks. I've never seen a more divided fan base than ours. Sometimes I think we as fans deserve our G5 status.

 

[JSM1970]

It is hugely unwatchable, awful product, UConn aside. The atmosphere is fun, so it maintains interest.

The game is a total gimmick. The best teams generally have quasi-running backs playing QB like 'Bama, FSU, OH State, etc.

I watch some games, but they are gimmicks. Nothing that remotely compares to the pro version.

 

[Excalibur]

Well we just got proof that the OP is dead wrong . . .

 

[shizzle787]

Agreed. It is more than the 1 and done but college hoops sucks. If Uconn basketball wasn't a part of me I would have 0 interest. College football on the other hand has never been more captivating.

They're both captivating.

 

[uconnfan68]

Still better than the pro game that requires about a day and a half to complete with all the TV commercials.

I taped 3.5 hours and missed the last 3-4 minutes. Sucks when the provider says 3 hours/game, and it never comes close. MBB is the same way.

 

[shizzle787]

I taped 3.5 hours and missed the last 3-4 minutes. Sucks when the provider says 3 hours/game, and it never comes close. MBB is the same way.

Next time record the game and the show afterward.

 

[UCHuskies08]

This is #FakeNews. College Football is the absolute innovation hub of the sport. The game is fast, wide-open, and fun as hell.

Particularly appalling:
*contrary to the way the game was meant to be played* - By this stupid logic, the forward pass should still be outlawed. So, so dumb.

You seem to be overly angry about his post which is an opinion expressed on the internet

 

[formerlurker]

This is #FakeNews. College Football is the absolute innovation hub of the sport. The game is fast, wide-open, and fun as hell.

Particularly appalling:
*contrary to the way the game was meant to be played* - By this stupid logic, the forward pass should still be outlawed. So, so dumb.

You seem to be overly angry about his post which is an opinion expressed on the internet

F^cing Millennials are ruining everything.

 

[Walker11]

They're both captivating.

I have evolved into an NBA fan. In other words, I have become one of those douchey NBA fans who rails against the quality of the college game with each breath.

For whatever reason, I am more intrigued by NCAAF than the NFL even though I am a junkie of both. The skill disparity doesn't bother me because of the innovative nature of NCAAF.

Even with my criticism of MCBB, sports>other things so I am still watch way too much.

 

[JMick]

I have evolved into an NBA fan. In other words, I have become one of those douchey NBA fans who rails against the quality of the college game with each breath.

For whatever reason, I am more intrigued by NCAAF than the NFL even though I am a junkie of both. The skill disparity doesn't bother me because of the innovative nature of NCAAF.

Even with my criticism of MCBB, sports>other things so I am still watch way too much.

The best part of the NFL is the parity.

 

[champs99and04]

No offense was intended by the OP, I just thought there were more real football fans on this board. That most of the younger folks see 40-38 games through glossy lenses is unsurprising, but to me there is nothing more repulsive than Big 12 "football" and the fact that it appears to be proliferating to other parts of the country is threatening my interest in the sport at large. The current game sucks and people don't see it because of the misdirection caused by tailgating, fantasy football, and frat parties. It's the perfect remedy to cinch the common Americans' social fancies. It's a misogynistic game that is now being sustained by a feminine legislation. If you like it that way, fine. Just don't pretend you don't see the hypocrisy.

Again, this is simply an opinion. Some of us prefer chocolate milk and some of us prefer wine. I like watching games that are decided up front, where players don't get ejected for hitting people, and where the goal isn't to beat the defense back to the line of scrimmage but to beat them to the punch.

I get that this sounds like a loser's lament - it's not. Spread offenses are more effective than the I-formation. I just don't like watching it as much.

 

[JMick]

Again, this is simply an opinion. Some of us prefer chocolate milk and some of us prefer whine.

yes, you do

 

[superjohn]

I think CFB is the best it's ever been. Unfortunately for us we're not sitting at the right table.

I'll excuse this because you're young and don't know any better.

 

[champs99and04]

OP started a thread about the game last night on the hoops board. Looked like some were relishing the fact we struggled. Precious considering Wagner and Northeastern last year. Our fan base sucks. I've never seen a more divided fan base than ours. Sometimes I think we as fans deserve our G5 status.

You spend an awful lot of time crying about basketball fans not investing enough in the football program, and then when I start a thread over there about football, you cry about that too.

It's an irony I wouldn't expect one of the biggest clowns on these boards to grasp, but for future reference don't come at me the next time you need to exorcise your insecurity because I watch/attend more games than 99% of the people who actually went to UConn. The people that have a bone to pick with me are probably the ones that attend UNH, a program that I support little despite the fact that they might be better than the one UConn's got going.