COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - Over approximately the last five years, college football has moved much closer to the professional ranks with the advent of name, image and likeness compensation, revenue sharing and the free-agent market of unlimited transfers.
Some of that has made the product on the field a little bit more like the National Football League, as well, in ways that fans, boosters and even college administrators might not have realized yet, head coach Mike Elko said Monday.
Eleven football bowl subdivision head coaches have been fired so far this season, which Elko attributes to the NFL-like parity that has found its way to the Southeastern Conference over the last two years.
“The parity in this conference is at an all-time high,” he said. “So, when you look at it week-in and week-out, I think people are still looking for the days when the best team went out and won by 40 every week. And, you know, 12-0, 11-1 were kind of the standard of what was good. I think a lot of us, as coaches, have continued to try to preach, like, it’s not the same feeling anymore. It doesn’t feel like that’s what’s really good. What’s really good is finding a way to win enough games to get yourself into the playoffs where you have a chance to go make a run at this thing.”
This past weekend, five of the six SEC games played came down to one score. Over the last three weekends of football, 71.4% of SEC games have been won by one score, as part of a total of 26 one-score conference games this season.
During the same three weeks of the season last year, only 22% of SEC games were decided by one score.
Four SEC coaches have been fired so far this season: Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, Florida’s Billy Napier, LSU’s Brian Kelly and Auburn’s Hugh Freeze. Those four combined to play in 14 of 29 games, conference and nonconference, that were one-score affairs, or 49%.
Former Penn State head coach James Franklin was fired after taking the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff semifinals last season.
“I just think that’s how modern college football is and, much like you see in the NFL happen, you see more spikes and swings,” Elko said. “A team [that] makes the Super Bowl, maybe doesn’t make the playoffs the next year, bounces back and goes to the Super Bowl. You see that constantly at times in the NFL, because of the parity, because of how hard it is to win. That’s what’s creeping into college football and I’m not sure that everyone from a fanbase, from a supporter, has identified that.”
The Aggies have been the exception to this rule this season. In conference play, only the Aggies’ 16-10 win over Auburn and the 45-42 win over Arkansas have been one-score affairs.
Over the last two-year cycle, in which the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, revenue sharing was introduced and Nick Saban retired from Alabama, 44.9% of FBS teams have changed their head coach, according to CBS Sports.
“I think people are having a really hard time adjusting to what is becoming a new era of college football,” Elko said.
Punt block problems
The Aggies are one of six FBS programs that have allowed more than one punt block this season, with Wisconsin being the only power conference team in that grouping.
Thanks to a second-quarter block by LSU that led to a safety, the Aggies have had two kicks blocked this season, joining Wyoming and Wisconsin for third place nationally in the stat. Notre Dame blocked an Aggie kick earlier in this season that was returned for a touchdown.
Over the open week, Elko said the focus wasn’t on scheme, but individual performances to shore up the punt block.
“I think, from our perspective, it’s execution that needs to improve,” he said. “I don’t think that we’ve identified flaws in our system. I think we’ve identified flaws in how we’ve executed what we were trying to get accomplished.”
However, Elko said they continue to tinker and tweak aspects of the punt block to make sure their players are in the best position to run the play successfully.
“Execution is an all-encompassing thing, right?” Elko said. “It’s not just the players that have to do it. We’ve got to make sure we’re calling things and creating leverage and opportunities that allow us to go out and execute at a level we want to. But , no, I don’t think it’s a mass reload or anything.”
Both Northern Illinois and Kent State lead the country with four blocked punts allowed this season, followed by Florida International’s three.
Moss update
The timetable for running back Le’Veon Moss to return to action has not changed, Elko said Monday.
A regular-season return is still a possibility for the Aggie feature back, he continued.
“The timeline is still exactly what we anticipated from the beginning,” Elko said. “It’s still too early to tell whether that’s going to move or not, so we’re hopeful that by the end of the regular season we’ll have a chance to get him back out there. Certainly, we feel very confident [about] anything beyond the end of the regular season, if that presents itself.”
Moss exited the first half of the Aggies’ win over Florida with a leg injury and has missed the Aggies’ last two games. Up until that point, he led the Aggies in rushing yards with 389 and carries with 70. He has six rushing touchdowns.
In his stead, Rueben Owens II has taken the majority of the carries, collecting a new team-high 440 yards on 78 carries and three rushing touchdowns. He left the Aggies’ win over LSU with an apparent leg injury, but Elko said he will be “fine” during last week’s SEC coaches teleconference.
Players of the week
After an open week, Elko announced delayed players of the week for the Aggies’ win at LSU:
Offensive line: Chase Bisontis
Defensive line: Tyler Onyedim
Offense: QB Marcel Reed
Defense: Edge Cashius Howell
Special Teams: PR KC Concepcion
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