Why did power football die so soon?


Panther88

Panther88

Banned
:smh: I understand why. "Offense puts butts in the seats." (prolific scoring) But I'd rather have smash mouth mano-et-mano football (clock control).

Love looking @ the older clips from the 80s/70s=power football. Strength training was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge back then. :read:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hmMa8juSUh8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My collegiate idols when I was in HS were JC Watts, Kevin Murray, & Lance McIlhenny.
 
Well spreading out defenses and dictating defensive personnel helps offenses move the ball down the field more effectively. Plus, not all teams have the athletes to play so-called smash mouth football.
 



There was quickness built into the power game though ken. The wishbone is built upon quick-hitters and speed. Also, the ideology of compressing the defense so that the offense can quickly hit the edge. Checkout air force/ga tech w/ their "broken"bone variant(not sure of the actual name). Wing tee-ish.
 
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It takes very good offensive linemen to run a power offense. Good offensive linemen are very hard to find.
 
Hey Que said:
It takes very good offensive linemen to run a power offense. Good offensive linemen are very hard to find.
Click to expand...

I thought the consensus was that most OL love(d) to run-block vs pass-protect. :confused: So they could pin their ears back and fire off the ball and then go downfield.
 
Panth, it just the way of the world. Everybody want the next best thing and they're willing to let something good go to go after it.
 
Panther88 said:
I thought the consensus was that most OL love(d) to run-block vs pass-protect. :confused: So they could pin their ears back and fire off the ball and then go downfield.
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Panther it is a double edge sword.. I grew up on POWER SMASHMOUTH BLOODY-KNUCKLE FOOTBALL.... But we were rougher and tougher as kids growing up so we could play that style and not worry about nothing.. Plus the coaches have changed.. We were all raised at home and or in school by military men... Or Men from the civil rights era.. That was a different type of thought process on how to be tough... These kids now a days are not as TOUGH as we were.. Maybe bigger faster stronger, but NOT TOUGHER...

Now from an X and O standpoint the game is no longer a war of attrition... Its faster... When a coach plays slow pounding football the fans bark, criticize, and howl... Look at Rod Broadway, Henry Frazier, Anthony Jones. That get cursed for winning in a different way... But on the flip side, we say a Melvin Spears throws too much.. WTH...

If you are gonna play slow physical football then you have to score everytime you have the ball... Nothing worse than a 10-15 play drive that comes out empty... I hate that...

And yes you got to have some brutes up front that will maul from whistle to wistle
 
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Panther88 said:
:smh: I understand why. "Offense puts butts in the seats." (prolific scoring) But I'd rather have smash mouth mano-et-mano football (clock control).

Love looking @ the older clips from the 80s/70s=power football. Strength training was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge back then. :read:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hmMa8juSUh8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My collegiate idols when I was in HS were JC Watts, Kevin Murray, & Lance McIlhenny.
Click to expand...

The rules changed to benefit the offensive passing game...especially in the NFL. Coaches adjust their offenses to take advantage of the rules in force. If the NFL or colleges would come with a rule like "No more than 6 playes within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage within the tackle box", you'd see coaches shift back to running the ball immediately. Having "fan friendly" football is always a concern, but if scoring went up and fans started clamoring for "REAL FOOTBALL" and attendance seemed to drop... rule change! (lol)
 
emptyright said:
Panther it is a double edge sword.. I grew up on POWER SMASHMOUTH BLOODY-KNUCKLE FOOTBALL.... But we were rougher and tougher as kids growing up so we could play that style and not worry about nothing.. Plus the coaches have changed.. We were all raised at home and or in school by military men... Or Men from the civil rights era.. That was a different type of thought process on how to be tough... These kids now a days are not as TOUGH as we were.. Maybe bigger faster stronger, but NOT TOUGHER...
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Huh?
 
Panther88 said:
:smh: I understand why. "Offense puts butts in the seats." (prolific scoring) But I'd rather have smash mouth mano-et-mano football (clock control).

Love looking @ the older clips from the 80s/70s=power football. Strength training was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge back then. :read:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hmMa8juSUh8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My collegiate idols when I was in HS were JC Watts, Kevin Murray, & Lance McIlhenny.
Click to expand...

Boredom and steroid testing killed power football. :emlaugh;

On a serious tip, the opening of the passing game took away from power football.
 
I also like smashmouth football.

What happened was the defenses caught up to the offenses.

Teams like LSU started recruiting safeties, beefing them up and putting them at linebacker. Recruiting linebackers, beefing them up and putting them at DE. DEs to DTs. What you end up with is a defense that is not only big, but quick and fast. Three yards and a cloud of dust is not going to work against the defensive lines LSU has had in the past ten years. You'll end up with negative yardage every other play if you let defenses like that crowd the line of scrimmage.

Now, LSU doesn't have to recruit fast guys and beef them up. Now they can just go out and recruit a 6' 3" 300 pound DT that can run. 6' 4" LBs with the quickness to go sideline to sideline and deliver a punishing tackle. 6' 2" safeties that are fast as hell. Straight out of high school. That's what everybody is looking for.

To combat the size and speed of the defenses, offensive coaches adjusted and started spreading the defenses out to try to gain whatever advantages they could get. Increasing the rate of play and adding trickery to gain an advantage. That's where Malzahn's offense comes from. Oregon's offense. Boise State. On and on.

The days of putting your best guys on offense and pounding people are over because the defenses now are too big, strong, quick and fast for that to work.
 
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Power football lasted for 100 years so not sure it died quickly

the rules now began to favor the passing game and people saw once you go down quickly against a passing team it forced philosophies to change
 



Has it died? Alabama has won the last 3 out 4 national championships playing power football.
 
J C said:
Has it died? Alabama has won the last 3 out 4 national championships playing power football.
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Alabama is the exception to the rule... They get the kids needed to run that offense and that defense..

Everybody cant get those...
 
emptyright said:
Alabama is the exception to the rule... They get the kids needed to run that offense and that defense..

Everybody cant get those...
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You have a few other teams that try or at least tried to run power football. Wisconsin is one. Georgia Tech is another. But, GT is a prime example of what I mean by defenses catching up to the offense in terms of size and speed. Teams with fast defenses easily shut GT down.
 
emptyright said:
Kendrick.. These Kids are not as tough as we were.... It takes a certain type of TEAM to run smash-mouth football
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You do realize the forward pass and variations of the spread offense has been around for several decades, right? So, those San Diego Chargers teams with Dan Fouts, The Run and Shoot in Houston with Warren Moon, The K-Gun with Jim Kelly and Buffalo, and the West Coast Offense with the 49ers with Bill Walsh, the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis... those players were not tough?

Nothing that has been said so far explains why smash mouth football has diminished. It's all palaver.
 
Panther88 said:
:smh: I understand why. "Offense puts butts in the seats." (prolific scoring) But I'd rather have smash mouth mano-et-mano football (clock control).

Love looking @ the older clips from the 80s/70s=power football. Strength training was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge back then. :read:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hmMa8juSUh8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My collegiate idols when I was in HS were JC Watts, Kevin Murray, & Lance McIlhenny.
Click to expand...


P...I played WR in HS, and I prefer a more balanced attack. My playbook has a good balance and I run the same plays from like 6-7 different formations. My base offense is a spread offense with 3 WR 1 TE and 1 RB with my QB in the gun. Last season I was able to run the ball more effectively like that. It helps to have big O Lineman and a stable of RBs w/ speed.
 
J C said:
Has it died? Alabama has won the last 3 out 4 national championships playing power football.
Click to expand...

Thanks J C, I was gonna say the same thing.

And now, all of a sudden, a lot of programs now want to "rediscover" power football . . .
 
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