Copyright ? 2010 Ed Bagley
You find it while attending school football games every Saturday - missed assignments, missed tackles, players throwing themselves at runners and hoping they'll drop. Guess what? The runners usually do not crumple a great deal anymore. They are bigger, much wider, faster, stronger plus more elusive.
So how about we more college players square up and tackle runners? The answer is simple - plan choices not fast enough or too forgetful in filling their gap assignment and/or they can be scared to tackle.
The net consequence of doing this is the thing that we were treated to last weekend. The 7 highest scoring games produced 703 total points, or perhaps average of 100-plus points per game. This may be exciting, however it is lousy football.
So how bad will it get? This bad:
Michigan beat Illinois 67-65 in triple overtime (132 total points), Navy beat East Carolina 76-35 (111 points), Duke beat Virginia 55-48 (103), Kansas beat Colorado 52-45 (97), Tulsa beat Rice 64-27 (91), 3rd-ranked Auburn beat AA Chattanooga 62-24 (86), and 19th-ranked Oklahoma State beat 22nd-ranked Baylor 55-28 (83).
Haven't had enough evidence? Try another 8 highest scoring games. To wit:
No. 25 Nevada over Idaho 63-17 (80), Florida International over Louisiana-Monroe 42-35 in double overtime (77), Southern Mississippi over Tulane 46-30 (76), Troy over North Texas 41-35 (76), Arkansas State over Middle Tennessee State 51-24 (75), Fresno State over Louisiana Tech 40-34 (74), Central Florida over Houston 40-33 (73), and North Carolina upsetting 24th-ranked Florida State 37-35 (72).
That's 15 games with total many 72-plus. Fifteen games that generated 1,306 points, or perhaps average of 87-plus points per game.
So you saw plenty of offense, lousy defense, instead of lots good, solid football. Suspense? There was virtually none. It was just a matter of who had the ball moving about the field with little resistance.
Not to bore you, but to produce a point:
The 5 best scoring offenses in the united states are Oregon (54+ points per game), Boise State (47+), Oklahoma State (46+), Nevada (44+), and Stanford (42+).
The worst 5 scoring defenses in the nation are Eastern Michigan (gives up 43+ points per game), Memphis (42+), New Mexico (42+), East Carolina (41+), and Louisiana-Lafayette (40+).
This merely small problem for the lousy team much like the Eastern Michigan Eagles, who throw in the towel 43+ points per game and simply score generally 19+ points per game. No wonder they can be only 1-8 within the season. They did are able to beat Ball State 41-38 in overtime.
All right Ed, perform a chance. OK.
Who has acted toughest schedule one of several AP Top 25 teams? I am glad you asked. Read them and weep if you will not find your best team.
Arizona has unquestionably toughest schedule; the Wildcats are ranked 12th nationally. Next is LSU (15th), then Stanford (16th), Missouri (18th), and Oklahoma (19th).
Who has totally worst schedule on the list of Top 25?
Try Central Florida at 95th, accompanied by Ohio State (87th), Nevada (86th), Virginia Tech (80th), and Utah (79th).
Wins do count, almost all allows you said into perspective.
Oregon is 9-0 and has now totally 36th toughest schedule. Auburn is 10-0 and ranks 40th in schedule strength. TCU is 10-0 and ranks 62nd. Boise State is 8-0 and ranks 72nd.
Since you will discover only 120 Division 1-A get more info teams, both TCU and Boise State are turning up victories contrary to the bottom half the area (61st to 120th). Despite their protestations otherwise, both TCU and Boise State love playing in mid-major conferences, as also does Utah.
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