This year we are witnessing a turning of an era in college football. College football as we have known it has ceased to exist and this phenomenal upset rollercoaster will become the norm in years to come. We have witnessed major school after major school take the top recruits and play smash mouth football, crushing anyone who opposes. The option has proven that if you have the three best athletes on the field you will become victorious. Of course we have been seeing hints of change in the air for a while now. It all began with Bill Walsh and his west coast offence. Offense as evolve to the point of OFFENSE wins championships and defense wins games. It is against everything we were taught playing as youngsters but let’s face the facts, Offense is the bread winner and defense just makes offence easier. Schools like Boise started the revolution and many others are now tired of lying down. On to the major reason why college football will never see two undefeated teams in the national title game again. The level of talent recruited is unbelievable but not much different than the talent 30 years ago (well that’s debatable). The major difference is the 3 and 4 star athletes that cannot get scholarships to major colleges are also incredible athletes. Now I am not the type to say “belief” or “desire” of an overmatched opponent can change the outcome but the gap between “t he best” and “good” has diminished to the point that “want to” and “desire” can overcome a tenth of a second of speed in the 40 yard dash or 25lbs on the bench press. Today’s superior athletes are just less superior than they were in years past. In the future, the emphasis of having a superior coach will be the determining factor because the difference in athletes will be marginal. I have butchered several old philosophies in this article but one that will hold true is “Do the little things.” I think a blind bat could win a national title with the athletes on LSU’s team; the difference is a good coach could and would go undefeated with few close calls (i.e. pats). We will from now on have an atmosphere that is more like that of college basketball, holding our breath until the buzzer (and I must say I loved it when Kentucky was thrashed by Gardner-Webb). Maybe in the future we will have a team (like the Patriots who will go undefeated) that will overpower every opponent but that will be a special year much like this year in the NFL. The sleeping giants (A.S., Stanford, and ULM) are awake and hunting.
From a ULM student who is understandably surprised.
Pigskin_Guest: Joshua Chad Kimball
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