Your Favorite Quirks About College Football

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IceBoxGopher

IceBoxGopher

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Season is close, but still not quite here. In the meantime I thought it was a good time for a fun thread. This one, basically, is what are some things you love about college football, aside from the entertainment of plays on the field. What are some unique bits about the sport you enjoy seeing. Two from me.

One, the chin strap frustration. I see this in the pros, too, but it so perfectly sums up a drive gone bad for a quarterback when they angrily snap off their chin strip coming off the field. It's the equivalent of a goalie taking a drink of water after allowing a goal in hockey.

Two, coaches yelling at players to get back on the sideline after a big play or game-winning score. There's something about absolute pandemonium nearly breaking out by the winning team, and then a coach flailing to get his team back in order before the refs let the game really be finished. One instant one that comes to mind is James Franklin after Penn State scored a walk-off on Iowa.

 

For me it's fans storming the field after an upset. You don't really get that in the NFL. Also one foot down for a completion.

In years past it would have been:

*no two minute warning,
*going for two after a TD
*the lack of clock stop-ages

but now we have the nfl clock stopages and the nfl goes for two also now, so these aren't unique anymore.
 

Running QBs. The NFL has certainly had them (mostly uncanny scrambler like Tarkenton and Steve Young) and now has very mobile QBs now, but the NFL isn't pounding out yards by design with a tough guy QB.
 


definitely the students and the fan rivalries
 


Like:
I like the one foot in-bounds.
I like the Pass Interference being 15 yards and not spot of foul.
I wish the NFL would change to both.

Hate:
I could not possibly hate college overtime more than I do. I wish they'd adopt the NFL rules, or eliminate OT entirely and end in ties.
 


I absolutely love college football. I have some mixed feeling about being able to eject a player who is just trying to make a tackle and gets ejected because of minor/incidental/unintentional contact to the head. Granted, intention is difficult to determine in many cases. I know that the rules purpose was to make the game safer, but some of those ejections are based on hits where a defensive player appears to be doing his best to avoid contact to the opponent's head. Having said that, I recently saw some clips of Jack Tatum's "greatest hits." That guy needed to be ejected! He was a head hunter, and specialized in hits to defenseless receivers.
 







disco said:
Like:
I like the one foot in-bounds.
I like the Pass Interference being 15 yards and not spot of foul.
I wish the NFL would change to both.

Hate:
I could not possibly hate college overtime more than I do. I wish they'd adopt the NFL rules, or eliminate OT entirely and end in ties.
Click to expand...
Agreed entirely on ot. College rules are beyond dumb
 



I like some that have already been mentioned: bands, fan rivalries and chants. Unfortunately , due to realignment some of those rivalries and chants are disappearing and have been already for a long time
Another feature I really enjoy is becoming less common because of new transfer rules: the guy who comes from high school absolutely unprepared for college football. So he redshirt, then is a backup and scout team player for a few years then seems to come out of nowhere to become a solid starter or even all Big 10.
 

disco said:
Like:
I like the one foot in-bounds.
I like the Pass Interference being 15 yards and not spot of foul.
I wish the NFL would change to both.

Hate:
I could not possibly hate college overtime more than I do. I wish they'd adopt the NFL rules, or eliminate OT entirely and end in ties.
Click to expand...
Would love bringing back ties
 


disco said:
Like:
I like the one foot in-bounds.
I like the Pass Interference being 15 yards and not spot of foul.
I wish the NFL would change to both.

Hate:
I could not possibly hate college overtime more than I do. I wish they'd adopt the NFL rules, or eliminate OT entirely and end in ties.
Click to expand...
Agree with your take. But add to the "Hate" list:

The fact a player is down if they fall and no one even touches them. That's ridiculous!
 

disco said:
Like:
I like the one foot in-bounds.
I like the Pass Interference being 15 yards and not spot of foul.
I wish the NFL would change to both.

Hate:
I could not possibly hate college overtime more than I do. I wish they'd adopt the NFL rules, or eliminate OT entirely and end in ties.
Click to expand...
The old college OT was fun though.
 

They keep getting rid of the best elements. The local rivalries, every game mattering, sos mattering, big non conference matchups.
 

What different schools do for making a first down.

Actually have come to enjoy Indiana's arm pump...
 

btowngopher said:
They keep getting rid of the best elements. The local rivalries, every game mattering, sos mattering, big non conference matchups.
Click to expand...
Love these too, but on my hate list is the fact that they are almost always at neutral sites now. I cannot stand that. A big matchup is so much more exciting and entertaining when in a home stadium. Often when in a neutral NFL stadium, I don't even care to watch.
 

disco said:
Like:
I like the one foot in-bounds.
I like the Pass Interference being 15 yards and not spot of foul.
I wish the NFL would change to both.

Hate:
I could not possibly hate college overtime more than I do. I wish they'd adopt the NFL rules, or eliminate OT entirely and end in ties.
Click to expand...

This list is nearly perfect.

The college overtime, as bad as it is, could be improved if they started at the 35 yard line where it's a least not perfectly in field goal range.

The offensive mentality would have to change a bit if teams had to first worry about getting into comfortable field goal range. I think that would add a lot and make the game a bit more pure. Instead it's essentially playing a game of 500 tossing the ball near the endzone for three tries.
 

for whatever reasons, in recent years I have found myself becoming a much more avid college football fan - and a less avid pro football fan.

one thing for me is that in college football, you still see a good mix of styles and schemes - from teams running triple option to the air raid passing attacks. the NFL has much less variety.

and college teams (at least some of them.....cough, PJ, cough) seem to have more of a go-for-broke attitude. they just seem more willing to take chances and try to make big plays.

also, the different traditions at the schools - White Out at Penn State, waving at the kids in the hospital in Iowa -- the mascots (yeah, let's let a live buffalo run on the field, why not) -- the rivalry games and trophies.

I also like the different levels of the sport. I watch FCS games, some D2 and a lot of D3 thanks to streaming, and I enjoy seeing different approaches to the game.

I still watch the Vikings, but if it's a close game, I secretly root for the Vikes to lose so that I can listen to drunk fans go berserk in the post-game call-in shows.
 


I like the replay rule over the NFL
As another said, running QB's more and more rushing in general.
I like the much larger rosters
 


Its not a quirk but I'll bring it up anyway.

TV time outs. They are getting longer and longer. Maybe allow one less TO per team for each half.

The NFL two-minute warning is not what it was intended. The warning was years ago when time was kept on the field to give each team a warning with two minutes left. Now its just another delay which extends the game.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
for whatever reasons, in recent years I have found myself becoming a much more avid college football fan - and a less avid pro football fan.

one thing for me is that in college football, you still see a good mix of styles and schemes - from teams running triple option to the air raid passing attacks. the NFL has much less variety.

and college teams (at least some of them.....cough, PJ, cough) seem to have more of a go-for-broke attitude. they just seem more willing to take chances and try to make big plays.

also, the different traditions at the schools - White Out at Penn State, waving at the kids in the hospital in Iowa -- the mascots (yeah, let's let a live buffalo run on the field, why not) -- the rivalry games and trophies.

I also like the different levels of the sport. I watch FCS games, some D2 and a lot of D3 thanks to streaming, and I enjoy seeing different approaches to the game.

I still watch the Vikings, but if it's a close game, I secretly root for the Vikes to lose so that I can listen to drunk fans go berserk in the post-game call-in shows.
Click to expand...
Agree on all counts.
Quite frankly; the nfl is boring if you don’t gamble.
I watch the nfl. Big games and Vikings. But i don’t sit and watch all day. I don’t care if I miss a Vikings game.


Issue for me with the nfl:

Defenses are too good. Windows are too small. QB becomes even more important in nfl. And you can’t really risk injury which limits styles.

Solution to make nfl more interesting:
Widen the NFL field by 6 yards. (Any more than that and would probably require renovations that are super expensive)
 



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