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Sound Off: Time To Slow Down College Offenses?

05:04 PM - February 20, 2014 by RaychelSnr

The no-huddle hurry-up offense. It's a gimmick that cheapens the game. It's a tactic that helps bridge the talent gap. It's both of these things. It's neither of these things.

Confused yet? Feeling a bit undecided? Don't feel bad, apparently so is the NCAA Rules Chairman Troy Calhoun. A mere week ago, the Air Force coach suggested that a slowdown was coming to improve substitution opportunities that address injury concerns. But in a press conference call on Tuesday, Calhoun seemed to shift gears:

Quote:

"The key is this: I think the only way that it can or it should become a rule is if it is indeed a safety concern. And that can't be something that's a speculation or a possibility..."

Sound Off: Should the NCAA adjust rules to slow down college football's hurry-up offenses?

Game: NCAA FootballReader Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
Platform: SportsVotes for game: 3 - View All

Member Comments

# 21 supermanemblem @ 02/21/14 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson


	Don't feed me this BS about it being for the safety of the player. Soccer doesn't need a rule like this, neither does rugby or basketball. That's a hilariously bad reason. As far as the substitution thing goes, isn't that the point of the offense? To get any advantage possible against a defense? And so they found a way to do that, so instead of making the defense finds a way to adjust, we're going to candy them? This guy.

I could care less about substitutions. My point was that these offenses are soft and can still be dominated by old fashioned football principles, mainly hit hard on defense. These "creative" offenses haven't found a way to get around that.

# 22 seasprite @ 02/21/14 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supermanemblem


	Ask the Broncos and Saints how creative their offenses were when Seattle was smacking them down, or look at how Oregon has trouble scoring 20 on Stanford. These new offenses are not creative. They were created to play as close to the line as the rulebook allows. The problem is that not every team has the players to attack these offenses, but when they do, the "creative" offense is neutered.

They are very creative, in the very definition of the word. If they are so easy to defend, why even talk about a rule change............oh yeah, thats right, its because they are beasting many defenses.

# 23 kehlis @ 02/21/14 07:32 PM

Of course it would help prevent injuries.

Did you guys already forget about those guys taking mysterious falls at the end of plays sometimes with no one around them and then coming up with short unexplained injuries?

Pretty sure those injuries would stop.

# 24 TracerBullet @ 02/21/14 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seasprite


	They are very creative, in the very definition of the word. If they are so easy to defend, why even talk about a rule change............oh yeah, thats right, its because they are beasting many defenses.

Naw man, remember when Arizona beat Oregon 42-16? It was those stellar players and that stellar Rich Rod defense that was ranked 118th in total yards this year. That one extra turnover must have been the only difference.

# 25 RebelHog @ 02/23/14 03:10 PM

Arkansas fans are facepalming right now.....and it's driving me nuts why I didn't listen to some of you Wisconsin fans. We should've hired Gus when we had the chance.

# 26 huskerfan711 @ 02/23/14 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kehlis


	Of course it would help prevent injuries. Did you guys already forget about those guys taking mysterious falls at the end of plays sometimes with no one around them and then coming up with short unexplained injuries? Pretty sure those injuries would stop.

Whoohoo less injuries for everyone!!

Maybe they should mandate that if you get "injured" you're out for the remainder of the drive. That would definitely stop these fake injuries teams always sustain against high tempo offenses. However, it would also probably cause more of a problem with people who are true gamers and are legitimately injured as they run the risk of getting more injured by putting themselves back into the play when they really should be looked at by a doc.

# 27 RebelHog @ 02/23/14 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven78


	Oh I was ecstatic to see that idiot leave.

i drank the kool aid, wishing Bert would shut up and just coach

# 28 XXstormmXX @ 02/24/14 03:40 PM

*sigh*
This is like saying "Stop using good strategy, guys. Don't do this even though it works and it's not dirty at all."

This is almost like adding hockey offsides to basketball.

# 29 fishepa @ 02/25/14 06:46 PM

Would be funny to see those who are for this rule, what team they root for.

# 30 bad_philanthropy @ 02/26/14 08:45 AM

My Oregon alum status aside, I just think the innovation of speed and tempo has been good for the game. I'm not even talking about the Ducks here. Running these sorts of offenses has allowed a narrowing of the gap between teams that would otherwise never make up the talent differential. College football is more competitive because of this, and I think a better product.

It was fantastic seeing what Auburn did this past year. Hell of an exciting run, and part of which was predicated on quick offensive tempo. Just feels like Nick Saban and Brett Bielema are being crusty. I mean I can see if there was a good deal more unanimity among coaches of all offensive backgrounds, but it's pretty clear who the detractors are here. Why should we change the rule because Nick Saban says something about safety?

Instead of changing the rules, why not, you know, blow up the point of attack like Nick Fairley v. Oregon, or LSU d-line v. Oregon, or Stanford's 3-4, or Arizona (inexplicably). Those games didn't seem too dangerous for the defense.

# 31 AuburnAlumni @ 02/27/14 02:32 PM

The whole "gimmick" angle is so far off base it's not even funny.

Ask anyone who played Auburn in 2013 how "gimmicky" the offense was as they got steamrolled for 8 billion yards rushing every game...coming off of "traditional" power runs...counters, sweeps, off tackles, dives, etc.

The "spread" can be 100 different things. Auburn's attack is totally different from Texas A&M. Texas A&M is a different spread no huddle than Oregon.

Bottom line..this rule is a joke and is being propped up as "player safety" when in reality coaches like Saban and Bielema are basically stamping their feet and whining because they can't figure out how to stop these offenses consistently.

That being said....South Carolina did just fine stopping Chad Morris and Clemson last year. Auburn held Oregon to 19 points and Oregon in turn held Auburn to 22 in 2010. Anything can be stopped...but it's up to the coaches to adapt. Not cry like babies and feed us bs about "player safety" to change the rules.

If it was truly about player safety...defenses wouldn't be allowed to blitz and QBs wouldn't be allowed to get blindsided by a defensive end.

# 32 Sportsbuck @ 02/27/14 02:50 PM

I was all prepared to jump into this, but AA, seasprite and others already took care of it.

The rule change should never happen.

# 33 kingkilla56 @ 02/27/14 03:06 PM

The biggest uproar should be that Saban and Belilemala are pushing this in the name of player safety. Thats the real travesty here. Next they will push a ban on passing the football for player safety reasons.

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Sound Off: Time To Slow Down College Offenses?