1)I can no longer restrain myself
A few of this week’s football games were very frustrating to me because I did not understand the thought processes of some of the coaches.
Exhibit A: Southern vs. Grambling
Late in the second quarter, Southern faced third and short inside Grambling’s 5. After an incomplete pass, they attempted a field goal. But Grambling committed an offsides penalty, giving Southern a first and goal on the 1 … with ten seconds left, and with no timeouts. In that situation, what did Southern do?
That’s right — they ran the ball. Specifically, they ran a quarterback sneak. The Southern quarterback failed to score, and since Southern had no timeouts, the resulting pile of players allowed time to expire, resulting in a literally pointless trip inside the ten for Southern.
Remarkably, they still won the game.
Exhibit B: Florida vs. Florida State
Despite a miserable first half for the Florida State offense, the game was tied at 14 in the fourth quarter. Florida took possession, and FSU quickly forced the Gators into a third and long. FSU blitzed, and Florida made a big play for a first down. A few plays later, FSU again forced Florida into a third and long. Again, FSU blitzed, and again, Florida made a big play for a first down. Just a few plays later, FSU forced Florida into yet another third and long. What did FSU’s defensive coordinator do?
That’s right — he called another blitz, and Florida scored the winning touchdown.
Exhibit C: Notre Dame vs. USC
In the first half, Notre Dame faced a third-and-1 in USC territory. What did Charlie Weis do?
Rather than calling a basic, straightforward play that would have a good chance of gaining one yard, he called an option — and it was immediately apparent that the option is a play with which Brady Quinn was neither familiar nor comfortable. The subpar execution resulted in a loss of three yards. Weis then elected to go for the first down on fourth-and-4, but the Irish failed to gain the first down.
That said, I doubt Notre Dame would have won the game even if that play had been successful.
2)Jet-Puffed Marshmallows Heisman Trophy Winner
During his time at USC, Reggie Bush was hailed as one of The Best Running Backs Ever In The History Of Life, The Universe and Everything (aided by his being part of a team loudly hailed as The Best Team Ever In … oh, wait, Texas got in the way). After he won the Heisman, he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints.
When he was drafted, he had his doubters in the NFL. Some thought he was too small to be a durable feature back. After watching him yesterday against the Falcons, I have a slightly different opinion:
We may never know just how durable he could be.
I say this because he seems to have the Deion Sanders Syndrome: playing a full-contact sport by avoiding contact at all costs. Remember Sanders’ efforts to tackle without hitting? On multiple occasions I watched Bush meekly run out of bounds rather than run forward and gain a few extra yards by initiating contact.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t have a problem with the idea of avoiding defenders. Players not named Mike Alstott are wise to do so if possible; good backs will avoid defenders and find space to run. But Bush wasn’t finding space to run, and he wasn’t in a clock-saving situation; he was running out of bounds in an apparent effort to save himself.
While it may help him last longer, I do not believe an overarching mindset of self-preservation will help Bush be a great running back in the NFL.
I fully concur with the FSU blitzes – I was yelling at the TV the whole time.
Another problem I noticed on Saturday: the 5-yard facemask. The situation was a defender trying to make a tackle, and the runner using a stiff-arm. Each brushed the facemask of the other. But touching a facemask on a stiff-arm is not a penalty, while touching a facemask on a tackle is. What sense does that make? If it’s dangerous, it should go both ways. Some might say that the runner is not likely to turn that touch into a grab – which is dangerous – whereas the tackler is. So to avoid the grab, we outlaw the touch. But the grab is already outlawed. And it we want to avoid any chance that something dangerous is going to happen, perhaps playing the game of football should be a 5-yard penalty.
I think more likely it is just more bias against defense. Switch the jerseys on most defensive pass interference calls – you wouldn’t get offensive pass interference. Inconsistent, but that’s the modern game.
js
Okay, good — I wasn’t the only one yelling at the TV during that drive. After the touchdown, I actually switched to the Grambling/Southern game because I was so mad at FSU. And I don’t even like FSU!
I can go along with the offensive bias idea. It’s most visible on pass interference calls (or non-calls), but you do see it other places … and in other leagues, too. Both the NBA and the NHL have changed over the years to be more offense-friendly. The NHL’s change is more noticeable because it occurred after the lockout and because it was well-publicized to bring fans back (one stated goal of the rule changes was to increase scoring), but the NBA has made it harder to be the Pistons or Spurs of a couple years ago, too.
I blame TV: the offense-friendly trends are at least partly motivated by TV ratings. Offense is excitement for the TV.
Yeah, it’s TV; but it’s TV’s attempt to appeal to a wider audience. For some reason (this really isn’t sarcasm), “people” think a 7-6 score in football games is boring. Quite the contrary for me: I was watching some game a few weeks ago (Texas Tech, maybe?), and they did not run. 3rd and 1: in the shotgun. I am not exaggerating. At first it was interesting – I just couldn’t believe they almost never ran the ball (had to be at least 10/1, pass/run). But then it just got boring. Sort of like a tank rush in C&C.
All this talk about how great the UM/OSU game was. I found it a little annoying. 50 yard runs? That’s exciting like a home run is exciting. Sort of a shallow excitement.
I actually prefer good defensive battles. Good, long, planned drives. That’s football. Or at least it was.
Bush’s tactics may not be the most endearing, but it’s yet again an example of why college is better than NFL. NFL is a business; Bush is an asset. Why risk health for a few yards?
But even in college Bush wasn’t the most principled player. I remember in the Notre Dame game, he had a sure touchdown, and he coasted the last few yards. The problem for him was that a more principled ND player hadn’t given up, and had come all the way across the field. He absolutely leveled Bush at the goal-line.