Arkansas 71, Kentucky 63. That, in itself, is good. Most fans
love high- scoring football games, as that Southeastern Conference
game was on Saturday.
Unfortunately, that game was 23-23 at the end of regulation.
Seven overtimes. Seven.
And that game wasn’t an unusual occurrence, either.
Multiple-overtime games occur several times every season, turning
games into five-hour exhausting marathons that resemble penalty
shootouts more than football.
Yes, the game was exciting. But it was too rich, like putting
syrup on powdered sugar.
No, I’m not saying that the college football overtime
system is bad. Nor am I in favor of the coin flip-based NFL
system.
But college football needs something in between.
Starting at the opponent’s 25-yard line makes scoring way
too easy in overtime.
Most Division I teams have kickers who already can kick field
goals from that distance, so it makes it nearly impossible for both
teams to go scoreless in any given frame.
Neither team failed to score in the Arkansas-Kentucky game until
the seventh overtime, when Kentucky went for the end zone on fourth
down, when under normal circumstances, the Wildcats could have
kicked a field goal.
In theory, there are two realistic scenarios every time a team
has the ball in overtime: field goal or touchdown. No punts, no
turnover on downs (except for scenarios like Kentucky’s).
And by the end of the game, both team’s defenses are
fatigued, making it harder to stop offenses.
By the latter overtimes of the Arkansas-Kentucky game, the
Razorback defense made full-sized Kentucky quarterback Jared
Lorenzen look like Barry Sanders, and the Kentucky defense was even
worse.
By the way, Lorenzen is my new favorite college football player,
replacing Santiago Gramatica (the third Gramatica brother).
Lorenzen gives hope to out-of-shape people everywhere who still
dream of playing quarterback.
Lorenzen’s pass rating this year: 141.55. That’s
pretty good. Not bad for a guy who has been criticized for having
no arm and plays on a team that was one of the charter members of
my “crap conference.” Kentucky’s football history
is, well, a bad one.
And why was South Florida’s Gramatica my former favorite
college football player? Well, he’s a mirror image of his NFL
brothers (Martin and Bill) and wildly celebrates after every
meaningless extra point and field goal.
Back to my point: The current college football overtime system
is flawed. A couple of easy changes can be made to make it smoother
and retain its excitement.
“¢bull; Start at the 40 or 45, not the 25. From the 40, very few
kickers can make field goals. Teams would have to get a first down
to get a field goal, making it easier to shut a team out
completely, yet it would still be easier to score than in a normal
drive in a game.
“¢bull; Adopt the NFL system, except force both teams to get the
ball in overtime.
It’s simple: Whoever scores first wins, except both teams
get a chance to see the ball.
“¢bull; Play two five-minute overtime periods. Play both, have
each team start with the ball in an overtime, and after both
overtimes, if the game is still a tie, it’s a tie. It’s
fair and does the best to represent the game situations people like
the most ““ the two minute-drill. Or maybe just give both
teams one drive. Ties aren’t so bad once you give teams a
chance to settle it, like hockey.
The NCAA claims to care about the health of its
student-athletes. Making student-athletes play a very physically
demanding sport for five hours, increasing the risk of injury, is a
very bad idea.
Of course, the NCAA always does things in the best interest of
student-athletes. Always as in never.
Quiñonez applied for the Seattle Mariners general
manager position. Wish him luck and send advice to
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.