| FTBL How much has college football shifted to talented offenses?

Max

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- In 2011, 5 of the top 10 defenses were in the SEC.
-- The best G5 defense was #10.
- Right now, only 2 of the top 25 defenses are in the SEC.
-- 4 of the top 10 defenses are G5s.

Everything in football is relative. As talent has shifted to the offensive side of the ball (starting in high school), high-talent conferences have shifted to more yards and points. As offensive stats go up, defensive stats necessarily go down.

But in non-conference play, right now:

  • the SEC has 5 of the top 10 in yards/play defense.
  • the Big 12 has 3 of the top 25.
  • the G5 has 1 top 10, 5 of the top 25.

This highly suggests that it's not just style of play (the Big 12 excuse), it's high-talent meaning high-scoring.

But even within a conf, scheduling plays a huge role midseason.

- South Car and Vandy are a distant 13th/14th in offense.

-- Of the top 5 SEC defenses, all but Auburn have played one of SC/V.
- Florida and Ole Miss are a distant 1st/2nd in O.
-- Only Bama (#6 D) has played both.
 
One of the things that I think is often overlooked is that an elite QB can beat an elite defense. In the past Bama has had incredible defenses but one incredible QB playing the game of his life made them look bad, i.e. Johnny Football or Scam Newton. I mean 2016 we had some really elite talent on defense but Deshaun Watson just played an unbelievable game. We won, but we gave up a lot of points and yards. I think it's true now more than it ever had been before because of the rule changes, but if a team has an elite QB and he plays his best game then the offense will win every time. Things like back shoulder throws, perfectly thrown balls that are contested but caught anyway, quarterbacks avoiding sacks with miraculous moves; there's no way to defend against this.
 
- In 2011, 5 of the top 10 defenses were in the SEC.
-- The best G5 defense was #10.
- Right now, only 2 of the top 25 defenses are in the SEC.
-- 4 of the top 10 defenses are G5s.

Everything in football is relative. As talent has shifted to the offensive side of the ball (starting in high school), high-talent conferences have shifted to more yards and points. As offensive stats go up, defensive stats necessarily go down.

But in non-conference play, right now:

  • the SEC has 5 of the top 10 in yards/play defense.
  • the Big 12 has 3 of the top 25.
  • the G5 has 1 top 10, 5 of the top 25.

This highly suggests that it's not just style of play (the Big 12 excuse), it's high-talent meaning high-scoring.

But even within a conf, scheduling plays a huge role midseason.

- South Car and Vandy are a distant 13th/14th in offense.

-- Of the top 5 SEC defenses, all but Auburn have played one of SC/V.
- Florida and Ole Miss are a distant 1st/2nd in O.
-- Only Bama (#6 D) has played both.
As offensive teams learned how to use the rules to their advantage and to the disadvantage of the D, it has changed the game.

Not saying talent on the O side of the ball has changed too... but the rules of the game put the defense in a tight spot depending on the scheme being run by the O regardless on where the talent is located.
 
One of the things that I think is often overlooked is that an elite QB can beat an elite defense. In the past Bama has had incredible defenses but one incredible QB playing the game of his life made them look bad, i.e. Johnny Football or Scam Newton. I mean 2016 we had some really elite talent on defense but Deshaun Watson just played an unbelievable game. We won, but we gave up a lot of points and yards. I think it's true now more than it ever had been before because of the rule changes, but if a team has an elite QB and he plays his best game then the offense will win every time. Things like back shoulder throws, perfectly thrown balls that are contested but caught anyway, quarterbacks avoiding sacks with miraculous moves; there's no way to defend against this.

All of those quarterbacks were mobile and it was a relatively new concept. Having guys that were a threat with their arms and legs that is. Give us a little break on those guys. Two Heismans and a finalist.
 
All of those quarterbacks were mobile and it was a relatively new concept. Having guys that were a threat with their arms and legs that is. Give us a little break on those guys. Two Heismans and a finalist.
I think you misunderstand. I wasn’t bashing our defense. I’m saying that every defense, no matter how good, can be overcome by an incredible quarterback performance. And it’s more prevalent now because of the new rules. Similar to the nfl, a great defense can be beaten by Tom Brady or Aaron Rogers on a good day. I think that’s why we’re seeing so many prolific offenses these days.
 
BS. defense will win out if it is strong. GA defeated Clemsun in a close game. A great offense can only go so far if their defense can't stop a turd or snowball.
 
I think you misunderstand. I wasn’t bashing our defense. I’m saying that every defense, no matter how good, can be overcome by an incredible quarterback performance. And it’s more prevalent now because of the new rules. Similar to the nfl, a great defense can be beaten by Tom Brady or Aaron Rogers on a good day. I think that’s why we’re seeing so many prolific offenses these days.

No, I didn't take it as you bashing our defense. I was just stating that the guys that have beat us quarterback wise, for the most part were dominant quarterbacks. Bo Wallace, Chad Kelly, Garcia, and Calzada just had that one night the times they beat us. Newton, Manziel, Tebow, and Watson were just dang good quarterbacks that are amongst the best.
 
No, I didn't take it as you bashing our defense. I was just stating that the guys that have beat us quarterback wise, for the most part were dominant quarterbacks. Bo Wallace, Chad Kelly, Garcia, and Calzada just had that one night the times they beat us. Newton, Manziel, Tebow, and Watson were just dang good quarterbacks that are amongst the best.
Football is a team sport so one guy, a QB, can’t beat anybody. Sometimes the moon and stars align correctly and a weaker team beats a stronger team. That’s why the game is played.

All of the quarterbacks you mentioned had to throw the ball to somebody and that somebody had to catch it. When they caught the ball, sometimes they ran with the ball they caught. Each of those quarterbacks didn’t throw on each down, so somebody had to run the ball. I bet when they ran the ball they got first downs. When they ran, somebody had to block people out of the way.

The best ways to prevent the moon and stars to align is to do what you’re supposed to do on offense and defense - exactly. You don’t practice until you get it right, you practice until you can’t get it wrong. Play to 100% of your ability or higher.


IMO, Alabama didn’t play to the maximum of their ability against Texas A&M on either side of the ball.
 
Football is a team sport so one guy, a QB, can’t beat anybody. Sometimes the moon and stars align correctly and a weaker team beats a stronger team. That’s why the game is played.

All of the quarterbacks you mentioned had to throw the ball to somebody and that somebody had to catch it. When they caught the ball, sometimes they ran with the ball they caught. Each of those quarterbacks didn’t throw on each down, so somebody had to run the ball. I bet when they ran the ball they got first downs. When they ran, somebody had to block people out of the way.

The best ways to prevent the moon and stars to align is to do what you’re supposed to do on offense and defense - exactly. You don’t practice until you get it right, you practice until you can’t get it wrong. Play to 100% of your ability or higher.


IMO, Alabama didn’t play to the maximum of their ability against Texas A&M on either side of the ball.


Well yeah, but you're not telling me 95% of the load wasn't on that one guy to run around and make a more incredible play than the other part of the play in these cases. Manziel, Watson, and Newton all put on personal shows in effort of distributing the ball. Manziel bought time, broke tackles, eluded tacklers, and put the ball in tiny pockets. Newton overcame a horrible defensive effort by his team and ran and threw his way to the win. Watson broke down the defense by his abilities alone in efforts of distributing the ball, on top of running his way to many 3rd down conversions. Kelly, Wallace, Garcia, and Calzada all rode more team effort to secure the win and they just played about perfect to make it happen.
 
Football today is a QB driven sport at every level. A great QB can make receivers and running backs look great. But a bad QB can't help anyone. I agree that football is a team sport more so than the other big 3 sports, but it still can de dominated by one player.
 
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