Running CFB playoff thread

Give Arizona State credit, they're kinda sticking around.

 

My Dad and I watched a lot of bowling on ABC when I was a kid. And during the broadcast they would have these tips. And one old adage that I never forgot was this segment on making spares consistently and they ended it with "make your spares and your strikes will come". And it's the same adage for saving pars in golf and so forth. Eventually the strikes/birdies will come and you want them to be able to make a difference when they do.

They have been in scoring position five times and have three turnovers on downs and a blocked FG. If they execute on 50 percent of those four misses to focus on getting points, this current drive would be a touchdown to take the lead. If they execute on three out of four, they could take another FG and be tied.

I get the analytics, I get the new way of thinking. But you still need points to win and underdogs can't afford to go empty handed 80 percent of the time in scoring position. Eventually they could breakthrough and get to the end zone, but it won't matter if they are too busy getting zeroes on every drive in plus territory.

 

Punt return for a TD…

at the time, it looked like it was going to be the second touchdown in a 35 point blowout.

 

Contra Hermes, they’re on something like the third place kicker this year. So those aren’t all par putts for them.

I do think teams should consider revisiting coffin corner punts. The pendulum has swung so far the other way and now you see teams trying 4th and 10 from the 41 when you know good and well they aren’t converting. Analytics are improtamt but so is knowing your team. Otherwise they just need a dude plugging numbers into a spreadsheet instead of a multi-millionaire in a Dri Fit.

 

I don’t know what Texas saw on film to keep wanting to run the ball to the right sideline, but they aren’t going to be happy with the results if they keep doing it next round.

 

We've had crappy weather in So Cal for probably 3 weeks straight. Overcast, gloomy.

Today? Sunny.

 

If the Peach Bowl can become so important, I have hope one day the Pop-Tart Bowl can decide the national title.

 

The sun doesn’t shine on the same bowl game’s ass everyday.

 

It worked for Frank Beamer for years and I don't think it wouldn't make a difference today. Focusing on having elite special teams -- kickers, punters, return game, protection, blocking kicks -- closes the gap between a Texas and an Arizona State. If ASU invested in good kicking game, this game is possibly tied. When Beamer built Virginia Tech into a top 10-15 annual program, it wasn't because they were loaded with All-Americans -- he believed special teams could flip field position, shorten fields, create non-offensive scoring opportunities, etc.

 

I’ve never figured out why marginal teams don’t fix special teams first. Just like I don’t understand why bad baseball teams don’t fix their bullpens first. Seems like an easy way to quickly improve for little investment.

Go into the NIL and pay a great kicker and punter and it seems like you’ll add a win or two automatically.

 

It's amazing how similar these two games have been. One team jumps out really fast, other team plays hard for next two plus quarters to make it sort of interesting while blowing everything legitimate chance it has, including terrible field goal kicking, other team ices it, and overall the outcome never was really in doubt.

 

Both losers were built around a star running back, and teams like that have enormous difficulty playing from behind.