By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
The CFSL comes and goes in a flash. It can be hard to keep up with all the action. That is why I decided to write this article highlighting some of the most noticeable players, teams, and trends from the previous week. Let’s take a look.
The Running Game is Back
The Steroid Era is officially behind us and the results of the changes made are already glaringly obvious. This became even more obvious for anyone who watched Oregon HB Ryan Raloksy this week. Ralosky carried the rock 25 times for a staggering 259 yards. For those reading that aren’t willing to do the easy math, that is over ten yards per carry!
Admittedly, this number was helped in large part by a few long touchdown runs. However, those stats aren’t the only proof. Last season there were only four players to average 100 rushing yards per game (Bo Yost, Josiah Henry, Fred Thomas, and Toby Knerr). As of this writing, there are nine doing it in Season 20. The numbers have more than doubled.
Now, I know these aren’t the most accurate comparisons (and we likely won’t have any until the season’s end), but I can’t remember a time in the league since I have been here that the running game was this open. (For those wondering, I came into the league in the Steroid Era). It will be fun to keep an eye on this trend as the season wears on, but for right now it appears that the running game is back in a big way.
Parity for All!
We have only made it through two weeks of play and we have already seen some fantastic upsets. West Virginia’s 52-38 rout of Cincinnati and Clemson narrowly beating Miami 48-41 come to mind. These games were exciting to watch, but more importantly, show a trend of parity in the league.
Long gone are the days when you could load a roster with roided-out freaks, pick any playbook, and win 99% of your games. The difference between the best and worst teams has never been closer and the evidence makes this clear.
Through the first two weeks of Season 19, the average margin of victory was 28.6 points and there had already been four games ended early by the mercy rule. So far this season, the average margin of victory is 13.8 points and the mercy rule has yet to be used. The average margin of victory was cut in half and then some!
This means that game planning has never been more important. It still helps to have great talent on your roster, but you better spend some time watching film and simming every week or you might be the next on upset watch. My advice: don’t overlook anyone.
The Giant Killers on the Saluda River
Everyone in the league would love to start their season off 2-0, but sadly only a few can (there are only eight remaining unbeaten). In the famous words of Tiger Woods, “Winning solves everything.” When you are winning food tastes better, music sounds sweeter, and your girlfriend looks prettier. Winning is the best feeling, but winning all your games despite not being favored in any of them? That has to be a whole new level.
To find out, all you have to do is ask a Clemson Tiger. Clemson started the season as a 6.5-point underdog to Florida but managed to beat them 48-39. They followed that up with an even more impressive victory over Miami. The Hurricanes were favored by 20.5 points (and $63,731 was wagered that they would win by more), but that didn’t stop the Tigers from beating them 48-41.
Next week Clemson takes on the 0-2 Syracuse Orange. This will likely be the first game of the season in which the Tigers are favored. We will find out if they have the same mojo as the favorite. But the one thing we know now is we all overlooked this Tiger team. No one is going to overlook them now. Keep it up Tigers.
