No defense today across the board
Just look at some of these scores:
- Florida 38, Texas A&M 41
- Virginia Tech 45, UNC 56
- Missouri 45, LSU 41
- Texas 45, Oklahoma 53 (4 OT)
- Alabama 63, Ole Miss 48
Wow. Either nobody played defense today or the impact of covid is being felt more on defense than offense. I don't know how else to interpret so many ridiculously high scoring games than to attribute it to covid, between players out, missed practices, and practices hampered by social distance guidelines.
And with Big Ten beginning play in a couple more weeks, anything to take away and apply?
October 11th, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^
Ole Miss was running a reckless and hectic uptempo offense many times during their game against Alabama.
It's been proven throughout recent years that those kinds of offenses can often put up points against some of the best college football defenses.
Many of the successful plays Ole Miss called were simple runs up the middle. Though often Alabama wasn't ready or just too tired to stop it from being a good yardage gain.
I mean, right now there's no evidence to suggest Harbaugh will agree to running that kind of reckless fast paced offense.
Though maybe he'll let Gattis sometimes run it. The Michigan version of uptempo is usually just slow no huddle because they still take a long time to actually snap the ball.
Therefore the defense still has time to catch a moment of rest and get ready.
October 11th, 2020 at 4:48 PM ^
The ineligible man downfield rule is the difference. In the NFL, linemen get 1 yard of leeway; in college, it’s 3, and enforcement has historically been problematic. Because of that, it’s harder in college football to figure out if the offense is going to run or pass.
There was talk after the 2014 season of switching to the NFL rule but it didn’t happen. Bruce Feldman interviewed an anonymous coach who said his team would’ve been penalized 63 times for illegal man downfield under the 1-yard rule instead of the 3 flags they got that year.
The reliance on such tactics has only grown since. When NFL factories like Alabama periodically have these games where they can’t even slow down a mid-tier opponent like Ole Miss, you know something is up with the rules.
October 11th, 2020 at 7:29 PM ^
No defense in the budgie basketball league either.
October 11th, 2020 at 7:34 PM ^
If you want to be successful in today’s football world you have to be able to put up points quickly. Defense is nice and can be a huge impact but when u go up against the likes of Clemson Ohio state or Alabama your not gonna shut them Down for 4 quarters. If your offense can’t score 30 you will lose guaranteed