Where’s the love?
In this era of college football where every team is jockeying for position, it seems to me that the unwritten rules of football have been forgotten. Now, I know these are young men are playing to win, but when do you call off the dogs? I’m referring to the current BCS situation that has teams running up the score and padding stats to impress voters. So I ask, has this hurt or helped the game? There will always be teams who can’t compete on the level of the upper echelon squads, but is that their fault? Is that a reason to score 50 plus points on them? As of late, I’ve noticed first stringers staying in longer than necessary. Has the BCS changed the mindset of coaches? What happened to putting in the second and third strings? I, for one, believe that is has. I’m well aware that it’s their job to score touchdowns and to keep the other team from doing the same, but thanks to our current system, teams are being annihilated in the name of rankings. Merely winning a game isn’t enough anymore, now you have to win with “style”. Has the game become about image? Does mercilessly pounding your opposition prove that you should play in a good bowl game? Unfortunately it seems that way to me.
Who’s to blame here? The BCS system, coaches, the voters? I think they all have a share of the blame. Where do we go from here? Am I just being naive? I understand the ultimate goal is to win a championship, but at what cost? What kind of image does your program protray after running up the score game after game? What does it say about the voters who reward these teams? And what does it say about us fans who cheer and applaud? I know I’ve asked a lot of questions and left many unanswered, I hope that’s where you can help.
I don’t know if things are much different now than they were before the BCS system came along. In the “old days” the NC was decided by the final polls. And teams with a chance to win an NC did all they could to persuade the voters that they deserved the title. By running up scores and trying for style points. Although it is flawed I do prefer the BCS system to the old way of determining the National Champ.
A lot of run up scores have nothing to do with championships, but with individual awards. Piling up statistics helps in the voting for the hundreds of trophies awarded now. That, in turn, reaps rewards in recruiting – “Look you can be a Heisman, Maxwell, Outland, etc., Award winner – if you come here.
Oklahoma and Nebraska were notorious for running up the score. In those days, it was harder not to in the Big 8.