Should the pace of college football be regulated?

Submitted by vbnautilus on

Nick Saban made some comments yesterday suggesting that the trend of increasing pace in college football is unhealthy:

I think that the way people are going no-huddle right now, that at some point in time, we should look at how fast we allow the game to go in terms of player safety," Saban said on today's SEC teleconference. "The team gets in the same formation group, you can't substitute defensive players, you go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they're snapping the ball as fast as you can go and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can't even get lined up. That's when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they're not ready to play. "I think that's something that can be looked at. It's obviously created a tremendous advantage for the offense when teams are scoring 70 points and we're averaging 49.5 points a game. With people that do those kinds of things. More and more people are going to do it. "I just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking is this what we want football to be?"

The purity of Saban's intentions aside, is this something that should be considered? Mathlete's analysis this week showed that offense is steadily increasing in recent years. I enjoy watching offense as much as anyone, but is there a point where the balance between offense and defense tips too far in one direction and is no longer good for the game?

jsquigg

October 5th, 2012 at 4:41 PM ^

Maybe Saban should keep his players in shape so that they aren't more likely to get injured.  I have a friend who grew up in South Africa and he was comparing the size of rugby players to that of american football players and how freakish yet out of shape american football players were.  I explained how spread teams are changing that trend by having fitter lineman who are not as huge.  I think up tempo offensive teams built around speed are actually healthier, though I don't have statistical backup.  Saban just needs to keep his team in shape and STFU.

AJ1

October 5th, 2012 at 4:59 PM ^

The game itself is not safe.  I think we've all known that for a long time.  Saban probably just sees the pace as being mechanism for less talented teams to level the playing field a little bit.  And with the talent he gets, he doesn't want that.