After what happened at Razorback Stadium on Saturday, there is no need to go back and rehash exactly what went wrong. We don’t have that much time.
But it did get me thinking. A very dangerous thing for future reference.
Football has lost one of two things. Either chivalry is dead or teams don’t play defense anymore.
The weekend was full of absolute blowouts. And the games that were close, most were in the 30s or 40s.
Of all the FBS games played last week, 52 teams scored 30 or more points with 27 games being decided by 25 points or more (or more than three possessions). Teams are no longer content with just winning, they want to pour it on. Thirty one teams scored 40 points or more, while 18 teams scored 50 or more.
Arkansas did not have the worst loss last week of FBS teams last week, though. Fresno State beat Colorado 69-14. (What has happened in Boulder these days?) The loss to Alabama was tied for second worse along with Florida State’s 52-0 drubbing of Wake Forest.
Central Arkansas beat Bacone (NAIA) 70-3 Saturday. Henderson State beat Arkansas Tech 73-34. Harding pounded Arkansas-Monticello 52-7.
This isn’t just a college issue either. It is worse on the high school level. Much, much worse.
In Arkansas, 45 teams won by 25 or more points. When you added the fact that the AAA has a mercy rule, a running clock, this is a bit surprising. Seventy seven teams scored 30 points or more, 40 teams scored 40 points and 10 scored 50 or more. Where has all the defense gone? Rogers scored the most points in Arkansas in week three as they scored 64 points at Northside. Cross County had the most lopsided win as it beat Marvell 54-0.
Oklahoma, which has no “sportsmanship” rule, was far worse. A whopping 127 schools scored 30 points or more with 83 schools won by at least four possessions. That is just hard to comprehend. Eighty three teams scored 40 points or more while 43 put half a hundred on the board. Gans scored the most points in Oklahoma last week as it scored 82 points. 82?! Keota scored 74. Do their basketball teams score that many?
Last year I had the displeasure of covering a game that the final was 70-51. A football game in the state’s best conference. Really?
Why don’t teams play defense anymore? Or is all the time spent on the offenses?
Bentonville held a very good team to six points, and those six came on defense. Sure there are defensive teams but enough with the embarrassments you are handing out. I understand you can’t tell little Johnny not to score but show a little class. No need for you to go out and blow up the scoreboard.
At one point it stops being fun and starts being brutal to watch.
— Bobby Swofford
