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re: College football programs that, while not elite, always seem to play fundamentally sound?
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:04 pm to gohogs141
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:04 pm to gohogs141
quote:
BYU
If by fundamentally sound you mean dirty? Then yeah, I would include BYU.
Riley's Oregon St. teams never beat themselves and Pat Hill's Fresno St. teams were like Alabama-lite...tough, physical, aggressive, sound tackling and a little shady.
1
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:06 pm to Sevendust912
Yes....Maryland and PSU are absolutely not the answer
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:07 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Georgia
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:15 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
Yes, they often get beaten bad by SEC teams in bowl games, but that’s another story
Iowa is 6-5 against the SEC in bowl games.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:21 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Air Force. Never great, but consistently the best military program
Posted on 5/26/21 at 5:33 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
I put Michigan state in this category with Iowa and Wisconsin
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:04 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
If "fundamentally sound" football is defined as running the ball well, have a strong and physical front seven, not missing many kicks, and not turning over the ball often, there are a few programs that come to mind to me. All of them have been mentioned in this thread already: Utah, Wisconsin, and Iowa, most prominently.
Utah is the perfect answer to your question in my opinion.
Under Kyle Whittingham, Utah always has a physical defensive line and strong run game. They are almost always near the top of the Pac 12 in rushing yards per game (2020 #5, 2019 #1, 2018 #3, 2017 #7, 2016 #3). The same is true for sacks and tackles for loss, especially TFL. Utah has led the Pac 12 in TFL in three seasons since joining (2018, 2016, 2014). They finished 3rd in 2019 and 2014 and 4th in 2013.
Don't even get me started on Utah's kicking game. They've missed 3 PATs since joining the Pac 12.
I think I've said enough in that regard.
The one "fundamentally sound" statistic Utah doesn't always achieve is protecting the ball. They are a middle of the pack Pac 12 team in that regard. They make up for it by having one of the most ballhawking defenses in the Pac 12. I would also note Utah is mid- to upper-tier in terms of penalty yardage per game.
Utah is the perfect answer to your question in my opinion.
Under Kyle Whittingham, Utah always has a physical defensive line and strong run game. They are almost always near the top of the Pac 12 in rushing yards per game (2020 #5, 2019 #1, 2018 #3, 2017 #7, 2016 #3). The same is true for sacks and tackles for loss, especially TFL. Utah has led the Pac 12 in TFL in three seasons since joining (2018, 2016, 2014). They finished 3rd in 2019 and 2014 and 4th in 2013.
Don't even get me started on Utah's kicking game. They've missed 3 PATs since joining the Pac 12.
I think I've said enough in that regard. The one "fundamentally sound" statistic Utah doesn't always achieve is protecting the ball. They are a middle of the pack Pac 12 team in that regard. They make up for it by having one of the most ballhawking defenses in the Pac 12. I would also note Utah is mid- to upper-tier in terms of penalty yardage per game.
This post was edited on 5/26/21 at 6:11 pm
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:06 pm to RoyalAir
quote:
Until Muschamp happened, South Carolina was in this category for about 20 years. Even when bad, they've had solid d-lines, wideouts, and secondaries.
South Carolina was generally a physical football team under Holtz and Spurrier. They had some very good WRs and defensive lineman during that stretch too. Everyone remembers Sydney Rice, Pharoah Cooper, Alshon Jeffrey, Melvin Ingram, Jadaveon Clowney, etc.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:06 pm to tduecen
quote:
TCU
they do run more complex defenses from what I tell but on tackling and getting assignments done I couldn't tell you.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:08 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Wisconsin and Iowa are obvious but I will throw out a wildcard......
Tommy Tuberville's Auburn teams. Very good OL and DL. Ran the ball, stopped the run, and won a lot of games while never respected as being in the "elite" club.
Also Mike Riley at Oregon St.
Tommy Tuberville's Auburn teams. Very good OL and DL. Ran the ball, stopped the run, and won a lot of games while never respected as being in the "elite" club.
Also Mike Riley at Oregon St.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:08 pm to Who_Dat_Tiger
quote:
Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan St, Penn St, Indiana come to mind
I disagree as to Indiana. Programs that "always play fundamentally sound" make more than five bowl games in a 20 year stretch.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:10 pm to Paul Allen
quote:
Maryland
I don't know why, but I despite everything about Maryland football. They'll never win the B1G East. Bookmark me all you want.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:11 pm to MillerLiteTime
quote:
Tommy Tuberville's Auburn teams. Very good OL and DL. Ran the ball, stopped the run, and won a lot of games while never respected as being in the "elite" club.
Yes, and Auburn tended to have a pretty good kicking game, except for when John Vaughn missed 5 field goals in Death Valley. I remember that game well. It was my 16th birthday
Posted on 5/26/21 at 6:55 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
Northwestern used to be that way, but in recent years they are either quite good or quite bad.
Yeah, I'm a little surprised by how many shouts there are for Northwestern in this thread.
If you want to make an argument for just their defense, then sure, they're generally solid. Offense and special teams tends to be a crapshoot from year to year, or even week to week.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 7:29 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
Yes, they often get beaten bad by SEC teams in bowl games, but that’s another story
How do you figure that?
Under Kirk Ferentz, 1999-present, Iowa has played current SEC teams 9 times in bowl games and has a 5-4 record. Now, one of those wins is Missouri when they were in the Big 12 so let's not count that. 8 bowl games against SEC teams and a 4-4 record. The last one being a 2018 Outback Bowl win against Mississippi State.
Sneaky and unassuming Iowa. Never would have guessed they've played the SEC even up.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 7:33 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
BYU, TCU and Utah
Posted on 5/26/21 at 7:37 pm to mizzoubuckeyeiowa
quote:yeah the inclusion of BYU made me laugh,
If by fundamentally sound you mean dirty? Then yeah, I would include BYU.
a historically dirty team
it was all those Samoans
Georgia Tech
and
Okie State WERE fundamentally sound teams
This post was edited on 5/27/21 at 7:11 am
Posted on 5/26/21 at 8:38 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Ohio University. At least anytime I watched them seemed really sound on offense and defense.
Posted on 5/26/21 at 9:19 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Iowa State
Posted on 5/26/21 at 10:21 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
I'll throw out a bit of a sleeper on this topic:
Wake Forest under Dave Clawson
That is a very well-coached program for the program prestige and talent they get in there.
Wake Forest under Dave Clawson
That is a very well-coached program for the program prestige and talent they get in there.
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