Blowouts Dominate College Football Landscape
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – If there was an overriding theme for the past weekend of college football, it was blowouts…huge blowouts.
Ohio State beat Florida A&M 76-0; Louisville beat FIU 72-0; Miami beat Savannah State 77-7; Baylor beat Louisiana-Monroe 70-7; FSU beat Bethune-Cookman 54-6; UCLA beat New Mexico State 59-13; and Washington beat Idaho State 56-0.
Combined, the winners beat their opponents by a score of 464-33.
All of the games were so-called money games where the winning team pays the other team six-figures to be a sacrificial lamb. That said, FIU was at one point competitive, until this season.
There were initial reports that FIU asked for a running clock in the second half of its demolition by Louisville, but it may have resulted from a misunderstanding. UM took their foot off the gas at several points in the blowout of Savannah State and took time off the clock in the second half to mercifully end the game.
The games are good for alumni and boosters who want an extra home game each season, but provide little to the race for conference and national championships. UM head coach Al Golden said the games "aren't good for college football." But he also acknowledged they were likely her to stay at least in the short-term.
One thing that may change the equation is the beginning of the four-team playoff next season. The four teams will be selected by a committee who will likely give much more credit for a very close loss to a fellow BCS team than a 65 point blowout of a completely overmatched opponent.
In addition, as team's get into conference play in the coming weeks the games will improve. But the upcoming weekend will have its fair share of blowouts as well.
Miami plays at South Florida, who is winless on the season and got blown out by a lower division school to start the year. South Alabama plays at Tennessee, which could get ugly quickly. Florida travels to Kentucky to play an overmatched Wildcats team. Arkansas State travels to Missouri to play one of the highest scoring teams in the SEC.
In addition, Texas A&M plays at Arkansas against a Razorbacks team that just lost to Rutgers; and Southern Miss, who went winless last season, plays on the smurf turf at Boise State.
