The NCAA Hates Drama
When I heard that the NCAA was changing their time keeping rules, I knew nothing good would ensue. Part of the beauty of the college game was the prevalence of the last minute comeback. The old rules lent themselves to the comeback, with the clock stopping after every first down and all, but I guess college football is now trying to shift things to the opposite end of the spectrum. Hopefully the rules change after this season, because as a football fan (and a UCLA fan) I feel like I've been cheated out of a historic upset.
So I'm sitting in my dorm and I notice that the USC/Washington game is ridiculously close, so I scan the channels and finally find the game. USC is up 3 and poised to score a touchdown, with a 1st and goal. Ty Willingham's defense stood the test though, and forced the Trojans into a field goal. After the ensuing kick-off and about a minute of play, the Huskies looked poised to score. The Huskies' QB, Isaiah Stanback, was hitting receivers at will and making smart decisions and taking off and running when necessary. With 11 seconds left he completed a pass across the middle. The ball was placed on the 15 with 2 seconds left. Had the old rules still been around, the Huskies would have had one shot at the endzone, but instead, the clock ran out before the ball could even be snapped, ending the Huskies' upset bid. With the old rules not only would Washington have been able to get a play off, but they also would have had much more than 2 seconds. USC took 5 seconds off the clock during the kick-off, since the clock starts as soon as the ball is kicked. Washington also had the clock running on them after two of their first downs during their last minute drive. With the old rules in place, assuming all things equal, the Huskies would have been on the USC 15 yard line with at least 15 seconds on the clock if not more. The Huskies would have been able to take numerous shots at the endzone, and could have even earned a first down in the process, but they were robbed by the clock and by the new rules.
I may sound like a bitter UCLA fan, but who wouldn't have like to see the Huskies win? It would have ended the Trojans' 28 game home win streak, and ended their regular season undefeated streak. It would have been a historic upset and right up there with Auburn's loss as the upset of the season. A win for Washington would have shown the nation that Ty Willingham still knows how to coach, but instead we get another ho-hum win for that other team from LA.
Bring back the old rules, and bring back the drama to college football.
So I'm sitting in my dorm and I notice that the USC/Washington game is ridiculously close, so I scan the channels and finally find the game. USC is up 3 and poised to score a touchdown, with a 1st and goal. Ty Willingham's defense stood the test though, and forced the Trojans into a field goal. After the ensuing kick-off and about a minute of play, the Huskies looked poised to score. The Huskies' QB, Isaiah Stanback, was hitting receivers at will and making smart decisions and taking off and running when necessary. With 11 seconds left he completed a pass across the middle. The ball was placed on the 15 with 2 seconds left. Had the old rules still been around, the Huskies would have had one shot at the endzone, but instead, the clock ran out before the ball could even be snapped, ending the Huskies' upset bid. With the old rules not only would Washington have been able to get a play off, but they also would have had much more than 2 seconds. USC took 5 seconds off the clock during the kick-off, since the clock starts as soon as the ball is kicked. Washington also had the clock running on them after two of their first downs during their last minute drive. With the old rules in place, assuming all things equal, the Huskies would have been on the USC 15 yard line with at least 15 seconds on the clock if not more. The Huskies would have been able to take numerous shots at the endzone, and could have even earned a first down in the process, but they were robbed by the clock and by the new rules.
I may sound like a bitter UCLA fan, but who wouldn't have like to see the Huskies win? It would have ended the Trojans' 28 game home win streak, and ended their regular season undefeated streak. It would have been a historic upset and right up there with Auburn's loss as the upset of the season. A win for Washington would have shown the nation that Ty Willingham still knows how to coach, but instead we get another ho-hum win for that other team from LA.
Bring back the old rules, and bring back the drama to college football.
posted by Jeeves at 6:40 PM
3 Comments:
So USC lost that way, damn. What a day for upsets this woulda been. First Auburn Georgia gets beat by Tennessee.
(Friday night was a long night, so I fell asleep around 8PM and missed all the highlight shows. Time to check out ESPN for the news.)
Yah, it would have been insane if the #2 and #3 team would have been upset by unranked foes.
Since I have nothing against UCLA or USC, I can feel some level of empathy for you. I actually kind of root for Ty Willingham, who of course can coach, but didn't get the fairest of shakes at ND(ask the open-minded ND alumni how thrilled THEY were with a black guy coaching).
Plus, it goes without saying that Illinois would be winning more without the rule change, right? Right? Hello? (Insert crickets here...)
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