Same Sport But Different Games

Last weekend marked the end of the regular college football season.  We are now on to the bowl games, forty of them to be exact.  That is about thirty too many, but like a fool I will probably watch at least portions of most of them.  That's what ESPN is counting on, right?  That network, together with their business affiliate ABC, will televise all but three of those games.  There are one hundred twenty-eight FBS (Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision) programs, meaning that 62.5% of them will fill one of the eighty bowl team slots.  You have to be pretty mediocre -- or worse -- not to be a bowl game participant.  In fact, three teams with below .500 records (including the 5-7 Gophers) will play in a bowl because the NCAA was forced into making an exception to their rule of a team needing at least six wins to become bowl-eligible; otherwise they would not have had enough teams to fill up those eighty slots.

I personally enjoy the college game more than the pros -- most Notre Dame fans do -- but I have to admit that the more rigorous requirement for NFL teams to make the playoffs is a better system.  Out of the thirty-two NFL teams, only a dozen of them (37.5%) qualify for the playoffs.  That's one of several reasons the NFL has taken over as America's favorite sport.  (Yes, as a baseball fan, it's hard to believe I just wrote that sentence.)  One could argue that because it's relatively hard for a pro football team to make the playoffs, the importance of each regular season game is magnified.  Teams can rarely afford, say, a three game losing streak.  Plus, a team's won-loss record impacts whether they will get to play at home if they do make the playoffs.  You will seldom see a below average team in the NFL playoffs, and almost never see such a team playing at home in the post season.

What about the on-field games themselves?  Even though the NFL has a better playoff qualification format than the NCAA has for bowl games, which product is preferable from a fan's viewpoint?  Sure, you will find more elite athletes and excellent football players on a typical pro team than you will on a college team.  But that does not necessarily mean that the pros have a more entertaining game.  Let's look at seven rules differences between the college game and the pros which directly impact how the game is played and the level of fans' enjoyment of the sport.

1. Sideline Pass Receptions.  In the college game, a receiver (or an interceptor) has to get one foot in-bounds after he has control of a pass before he steps out of bounds.  If he fails to get at least one foot down in-bounds, the pass is ruled incomplete.  In the pro game, a receiver (or interceptor) must get both of his feet down in-bounds in order for the pass to be ruled complete (or intercepted, as the case may be).  Consequently, it's much tougher for a pro quarterback to complete a sidelines pass than it is for his college counterpart.  The Edge: I like the college rule better, as it results in more big pass plays, which in turn make the game more exciting.  I am surprised the NFL does not adapt the college rule, since almost all the rules which have been put on the books recently favor the offense.  As the saying goes, "Defense might win championships, but offense puts fannies in the seats."

2. Down By Contact.  In college football, a ball carrier is deemed down, and the play whistled dead, as soon as his knee, elbow, butt or any other part of his torso touches the ground, even if he slips on lose turf or trips over his own shoelace.  In pro football, a ball carrier is not deemed down unless contact with an opposing player occurs in the process of his going down, or if an opposing player touches the downed ball carrier before he can get up off the ground.  This rule gains importance in inclement weather or with poor field conditions.  The Edge:  I prefer the pro rule, although it could lead to more injuries.  For example, if a ball carrier is down, but not by contact, he might get reamed by a defender before he can rise.  Good sportsmanship and the threat of unnecessary roughness penalties mitigate the concern.

3. PATs.  Until this year, the college rules and pro rules regarding PATs (point after touchdown kicks) were the same.  The ball was placed on the two yard line.  Since the holder on a PAT puts the ball down seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, and because the goal post is ten yards beyond the goal line, the distance of a PAT when the line of scrimmage is the two is nineteen yards (2 + 7 + 10).  During the past offseason, however, the NFL Rules Committee decided that PATs were boring because they were almost never missed.  Every NFL kicker can kick a nineteen yard PAT or field goal in his sleep.  Therefore, to spice up the game and create more fan interest, the Committee moved the line of scrimmage for PATs from the two yard line to the fifteen yard line.  That makes PAT kicks thirty-two yards (15 + 7 + 10) instead of just nineteen.  The Edge:  Being a traditionalist, I was originally against the NFL rule change.  Too gimmicky, and NFL kickers should be able to handle a thirty-two yard kick with ease.  However, what we have learned in the first three-quarters of the season is that the longer PATs are not the gimmes that we thought they'd be.  Maybe the kickers are over-thinking it.  Anyway, I'm coming around to liking the change.  By the way, there are no rumors regarding the college rule makers following suit.  They still put the ball down on the two for PATs.

4. Hash Marks Width.  This is a subtle difference which isn't always apparent to TV viewers but is easily ascertained in person.  In college football, the hash marks are set wide apart; forty feet, to be exact.  The NFL used to have the same width, but in 1972 they narrowed the gap from forty feet to just eighteen and a-half feet, matching the width of the goal posts.  What are the ramifications of wide vs. narrow hash marks?  There is an old saying in football that the sideline is like an extra defender.  In college, when the ball is placed on a hash mark, you have a "wide side" of the field and a "short side."  A defense will position more players on the wide side because, as just noted, the sidelines act like a twelfth defender.  Some teams always have one of their cornerbacks (the better one) assigned to the wide side (the "field corner"), and the other CB assigned to the short side (the "border corner").  The offense, realizing that there are more defenders to the wide side, might position more of its players to the wide side to counter-act the defensive alignment.  It may run more plays to the wide side to give the ball carrier additional space to run laterally before heading upfield.  On the other hand, the offense might attempt to take the defense by surprise by running a play to the short side.  It is a cat and mouse game between the offensive coordinator and the defensive coordinator.  This additional element of strategy makes for a more interesting game versus the bland setup in the NFL where the narrow hash marks mean that there is no appreciable difference between the wide and short sides of the field; the ball is close to the middle, width-wise.  The other obvious difference is in the kicking game.  The NFL's narrower hash marks make it easier for a place kicker to line up his kick.  A college kicker facing the wider hash marks has to deal with severe angles, which get more acute the closer you get to the goalposts.  The Edge:  This is analogous to the old baseball debate about American League (designated hitter) rules versus National League (no designated hitter) rules.  Just like National League managers have to employ more strategy, so do the college coaches.  The distance from the pre-snap placement of the football to the sidelines is an extra variable which the pro coaches don't typically have on their plate.  If you enjoy more strategy, the college hash mark rule is for you.

 

5. The Clock.  College and professional football games all last through sixty minutes of running time, and in both cases, each team is provided with three charged timeouts per half.  But there are two major differences between the college and pro games concerning how and when the clock is stopped.  The most obvious difference is the presence of the Two Minute Warning in the NFL during each half.  Hooray for the NCAA for not falling victim to that shameless excuse to subject the television viewers to three or four more minutes of commercials in a game that already lasts too long!  Are we to believe that when the New England Patriots have the ball, quarterback Tom Brady, whose salary cap compensation this season is $13 million, does not know when there are two minutes left in the half?  The other major clock rules difference is the NCAA's momentary stoppage of the clock following a first down to enable the officials to "move the chains."  In the NFL, the clock keeps ticking while the chain gang does their thing.  The Edge:  I'm calling this one a tie.  I would like the Two Minute Warnings employed by the NFL to cease and desist -- I know that will never happen -- but I prefer the NFL method of not stopping the clock after first downs to move the chains.  Stopping the clock for such purpose, even if only for a matter of a few seconds, invites opportunity for foul play on the part of the timer.  Keeping the clock running is more transparent.

 

6. Defensive Pass Interference.  This is one of the most controversial subjects in the pro game, due to the severity of the penalty.  In the NFL, defensive pass interference (DPI) is a "spot foul," meaning that the ball will be placed for the next snap at the spot of the foul.  If the DPI occurs fifty yards down field from the line of scrimmage, the result is a fifty yard penalty.  (If the infraction happens in the end zone, the ball is placed on the one yard line.)  When you take into consideration that at least a fourth of the DPI calls are disputed, and are subject to human interpretation if not human error, the penalty is way too stiff.  In the college game, the penalty for DPI is fifteen yards from the previous line of scrimmage.  The Edge: The college rule is much more realistic and consistent.  The defense is still severely penalized, but the call is not a game changer as much as it is in the NFL.

 

7.  Overtime.  I have saved the category for which there should be the clearest preference for one set of rules.  In college, if a game goes into overtime, each team is guaranteed at least one possession, starting at the opponent's twenty-five yard line.  The offense retains the ball until it scores, turns the ball over, runs out of downs or misses a field goal attempt.  If the score is still tied after one overtime, another overtime period is played, and so on until one team ends an overtime period with more points than its opponent.  In the NFL, the overtime period is played more or less like a fifth quarter, which starts with a kickoff.  It is sudden death (i.e., whoever scores first wins), with one key exception:  If the team receiving the overtime kickoff scores a touchdown (or the defense scores a safety) on the initial overtime possession, the game ends at that point.  The Edge:  The NFL overtime rules are, by far, superior to the NCAA rules.  The college rules for overtime are analogous to the National Hockey League's three-on-three overtime rules, because the way the game is played during overtime employing those rules is vastly different from the way it's played during regulation.  In other words, it's artificial and gimmicky.  (There's that word again.)  Additionally, the team winning the college overtime coin flip will assuredly choose to play defense last, so that it knows what it needs to do (TD or field goal) when they get the ball.  The outcome of a football game should not be so dependent on who wins the coin flip.  In the NFL, it's obviously better to win the coin flip than to lose it, but losing it does not put your team up against the wall immediately.  In fact, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer won an overtime coin flip against the Rams last month and chose to play defense (with the wind at The Purple's backs) first.  Just make sure your opponent does not score an opening drive TD, and you have an even chance of winning the game.