You better be able to score some points in CFB TODAY.

[noeynox]

Alabama scores 35 and loses. Michigan State needs everyone of its 42 points to beat Baylor. They don't get anymore defensive oriented and ball control than those two schools.

Ohio State gashed the usually stout Nama run defense in part because they had to respect that Ohio State kept going deep on them through the air. The two long completions over the top really put Bama on their heels.

CFB has been trending this way for years, and the way pass interference is called today makes it damn near impossible to have a true shutdown defense where you're able to win a season's worth of 13-10, type games.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

The rules at the college and professional level have been tailored to benefit the offense, and there is no denying that. The average fan in America loves high octane/high flying offenses, as the television ratings indicate. Teams that are able to recruit/retain the talented offensive players coming from the predominately 7-7 states (Florida, Texas and California) will succeed going forward in college football. Teams that latch on to HC's who are "defensive geniuses" are going to find it incredibly tough to win at this level. The spread/wide open offenses are here to stay, and those programs unwilling to adopt this style will stay at the bottom of the standings

 

[mauconnfan]

It's ugly as some people would like the defense to be able to impact he game. For now in CFB they can't and you better be able to match your opponent scoring the ball.

 

[Palatine]

And we keep hiring defensive coordinators Edsall, Pasqualoni, Diaco and we wanted Narduzzi.

Skippy was our last HC from the offensive side of the ball, last century.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Been saying that for years. Even going back to Fiesta Bowl game, UConn was only team - win or lose - not to score an offensive TD that New Years Day. No wonder TV is not a friend of UConn in Conference Realignment.

Much to the disappointment of all our "smashmouth" football fans, that era is gone - too boring for today's viewers. Scoring and more scoring, and faster scoring and even faster scoring is the name of the game. UConn needs to recruit player makers and operate a wide open, high octane offense.

 

[noeynox]

Somehow I knew TDH would chime in.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

It's ugly as some people would like the defense to be able to impact he game. For now in CFB they can't and you better be able to match your opponent scoring the ball.

The defense can impact the game . . . make a key stop late in the game. And maybe slow down the opponent and keep them under their 38 pts per game average.

 

[junglehusky]

Funnily enough though, in the Finebaum film room the commentators and some of the callers were calling for Bama to run run run, be physical and eat up the clock (and then score). They were raking Kiffin over the coals for taking shots that didn't work out. Take home message for me was - running a clock eating offense denies the other team the ball, but you'd better score at the end of the drives.

 

[kyleslamb]

The rules are part of it, but it's much more than that. The tempo, the spread, etc., make it incredibly difficult to defend. Furthermore, because of the tempo, there are more plays and more possessions so while the points per play has gone up, so too has the number of plays in a game. I think the pass interference rules play only a small part of the difficulty in defending.

 

[mauconnfan]

The defense can impact the game . . . make a key stop late in the game. And maybe slow down the opponent and keep them under their 38 pts per game average.

But they don't because most of the skill is on the other side of the ball and the rules also assist the offensive players. Real tough to make plays agains the real good offenses.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Somehow I knew TDH would chime in.

Happy NY partner. Yeah, glad to see others in the UConn flock getting onboard. As it stands right now, UConn is so NOT HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED RIGHT NOW in so many facets. Even at D2 level, watch how high octane an offense aprogram like New Hampshire is to see how the game is played today. And, sadly UNH would have beat UConn this past year.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I agree. I have posted this a couple times already, but I really hope BD understands that putting on a good show matters. A defensive minded coach can create an exciting offensive team...Stoops is a good example of that. But...typically defensive coaches believe that the offense is there to not screw up the defense.

I have only recently joined the TDH bandwagon on this topic. I was happy with RE approach of a win is a win..no matter how ugly. But now I think style points matter. I am tired of watching year after year of offensively inept/conservative UConn teams.

I don't want to hear the talent argument....plenty of MAC schools find a way to run exciting offenses.

 

[noeynox]

@ShakyTheMohel been saying the same thing for years. MAC, FCS schools , MWC schools. Yet we ran it three straight times and punted against SMU who was winless, after Newsome fumble. SMH.

 

[uchusky32]

Rules yeah. But what's happening is the no huddle spread is the big deference. Bama had a big advantage with depth in the defensive line but if you can't substitute then it doesn't matter. Florida State had to take 2 timeouts on the defensive side of the ball to try to slow the Ducks down.

 

[HomeKing93]

A lot of good stuff in this thread. I'd add that the "we need to be more conservative when it gets colder" mindset needs to go out the window as well. I doubt high scoring G5 teams like Boise State and Northern Illinois think that way.

 

[noeynox]

Rules yeah. But what's happening is the no huddle spread is the big deference. Bama had a big advantage with depth in the defensive line but if you can't substitute then it doesn't matter. Florida State had to take 2 timeouts on the defensive side of the ball to try to slow the Ducks down.

I only bring up the rules changes and in particular the PI calls because it makes sense that a good offensive game plan exploits those things. Make defenders have to make a play in one on one situations deep where the consequence for not making a play or interfering is you are burned for a TD. The rule changes are a big part of why these offenses, in particular the spread, have evolved the way they have.

They put a great deal of pressure on even great defenses, to try and be perfect.

 

[UConnDan97]

Some of the posts in this thread have lost the forest through the trees.

These offenses are high-scoring BECAUSE of powerful running games. There wasn't a lot of high-flying passing games, except from Baylor, who eventually lost their game. Baylor's running total? -20 yards.

Here are the rushing totals from the three games mentioned in the post:

OSU - 281, ALA - 170
ORE - 301, FSU - 180
MSU - 238, Baylor - -20

All three teams that won also won the ground game. That's not by accident. Some was with the spread. Some, like OSU, was between the tackles and with the QB. The bottom line? If you want a powerful offense, you need a powerful offensive line. There's no way around it. Get the OLine settled, run the ball effectively, and allow for man-coverage on your WR's to hit the big play while keeping your defense off the field. How many times this year did UConn run for more than 170 (Alabama's total)? Twice. A 37 point effort in a win against UCF, and a 20 point effort in a loss to SMU that included 5 turnovers. Run the ball, and don't turn the ball over. A simple formula, actually...

 

[metsfan2323]

None of you get it. The key word missing in this entire thread is OPTION. If you aren't playing some form of option football you are lost.

Diaco seems to be hell bent on recruiting QB's who can run so there is hope.

 

[UConnDan97]

None of you get it. The key word missing in this entire thread is OPTION. If you aren't playing some form of option football you are lost.

Except that doesn't explain the OSU win against the #1 team, right?

 

[noeynox]

Ohio State was still running zone read option and throwing deep all game. They neutralized bamas perceived advantage on the dline. Hard to argue that throwing deep didn't soften Baja up. In the back breaking run by Elliot the bama safeties were nowhere near the line of scrimmage. That is a major advantage of throwing deep. Burn them once or twice and it doesn't matter that the QB WAS 18-35 passing because they have to respect or at least account for the possibility of the deep throws.

 

[noeynox]

I just mentioned option but hadn't read your post. Virtually every spread these days has some zone read option in it because it forces the DE to react and make a choice... Advantage offense.

 

[metsfan2323]

Except that doesn't explain the OSU win against the #1 team, right?

You watched a different game than I did. Urban Meyer's offense is very much a spread option offense. Do some homework.

 

[metsfan2323]

P was so far behind the times he never once ran an option play with McCummings. I'm convinced all of the calls with our wildcat (as far as who was running it) were made in the huddle from the sideline.

 

[UConnDan97]

Ohio State was still running zone read option and throwing deep all game. They neutralized bamas perceived advantage on the dline. Hard to argue that throwing deep didn't soften Baja up. In the back breaking run by Elliot the bama safeties were nowhere near the line of scrimmage. That is a major advantage of throwing deep. Burn them once or twice and it doesn't matter that the QB WAS 18-35 passing because they have to respect or at least account for the possibility of the deep throws.

Go back to the tape, my friend.

Of all of the running play videos for OSU in the ESPN link, only one was option. The vast majority were either straight handoffs or the QB scrambling out of the pocket. If you want to say by zone-read that he was handing off from the shotgun position instead of under center, then that's fine. But there was so very little "option" going on as to not be the credible reason for their running success. It was all up the gut, between the tackles stuff. In fact, every time OSU tried to break something to the outside, they got stuck...

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/video?gameId=400610178

EDIT: In other words, the "look" might be there, but there was no "read" going on. It was a hand off without any intent or decision to do anything else with it.

 

[UConnDan97]

I will add this: It seems that the days of the college pocket-passer are numbered. I think most successful QB's have shown themselves to be dual-threat QB's. Having a QB with poor mobility is something of a death sentence nowadays, I think. You have to get rushing yards out of that position, whether it's via the option or via the scramble...