Defense and Running the Football Wins Championships

[cubsfan5150]

Find me champion from the BCS era to now that wasn't GREAT at running the football (even if it was with a QB) and playing stellar D. 

[NaturalStateReb]

Auburn.

[cubsfan5150]

Auburn.

You must have forgotten how good Auburn's D was by the end of the season.

[NaturalStateReb]

They finished the season ranked 56th in total defense, which actually ranked below Petrino's defense that year. They weren't that good. It was a bend don't break defense.

[jkstock04]

They finished the season ranked 56th in total defense, which actually ranked below Petrino's defense that year. They weren't that good. It was a bend don't break defense.

Was about to post thr same thing. This blows his post out of the water.

They did have Nick Fairly(spelling) on the d-line who was a game changer. But they were far from dominant or "stellar."

That national championship game proved that the whole "defense wins championships" mantra isn't necessarily true, it featured Oregon vs Auburn. Two teams with that had elite offenses but not so much on defense.

[razorbacker3]

Was about to post thr same thing. This blows his post out of the water.

They did have Nick Fairly(spelling) on the d-line who was a game changer. But they were far from dominant or "stellar."

That national championship game proved that the whole "defense wins championships" mantra isn't necessarily true, it featured Oregon vs Auburn. Two teams with that had elite offenses but not so much on defense.

And the final score? 20-19 ? Yep no defense.....

[Hogarusa]

Well, this was a quick thread

[Inhogswetrust]

Was about to post thr same thing. This blows his post out of the water.

They did have Nick Fairly(spelling) on the d-line who was a game changer. But they were far from dominant or "stellar."

That national championship game proved that the whole "defense wins championships" mantra isn't necessarily true, it featured Oregon vs Auburn. Two teams with that had elite offenses but not so much on defense.

Which kind of makes it the exception instead if the norm for both teams to have that quality..............By the way AU was pretty good running the ball.

[Cinco de Hogo]

Winning football games wins championships, see wasn't that easy!

[NaturalStateReb]

Mostly, championship level talent wins games. Any system can win with the right personnel.

[DiamondHogFan]

Find me champion from the BCS era to now that wasn't GREAT at running the football (even if it was with a QB) and playing stellar D.

Go Cubs! #BeatThePirates

[MJ2]

Right now, we just need to win a game.   Haven't been too good at that for the last 4 years or so.

[Danny J]

Mostly, championship level talent wins games. Any system can win with the right personnel.

I believe this to be very true....if you look back to when the recruiting ranking first started being compiled I believe every national championship team had at least one top 5 class 3 years prior to the championship season. That is the only thing that has held consistent over the years. Need the talent.

[The Hogfather]

Was about to post thr same thing. This blows his post out of the water.

They did have Nick Fairly(spelling) on the d-line who was a game changer. But they were far from dominant or "stellar."

That national championship game proved that the whole "defense wins championships" mantra isn't necessarily true, it featured Oregon vs Auburn. Two teams with that had elite offenses but not so much on defense.

And yet, the score of that game was like 20-19, with the team that ran the ball and played defense better winning.

[Cinco de Hogo]

And yet, the score of that game was like 20-19, with the team that ran the ball and played defense better winning.

Surprise surprise, running the football and playing defense is part of the game of football.  Do you really think no one knows this?

In relation to our situation here at Arkansas what was your point exactly?

Or the point of the OP. 

[The Hogfather]

Surprise surprise, running the football and playing defense is part of the game of football.  Do you really think no one knows this?

In relation to our situation here at Arkansas what was your point exactly?

Or the point of the OP. 

What?

[Cinco de Hogo]

What?

I ask you what the point was, what do you think Arkansas needs to do and how do they do it.

Just saying rushing and defense wins championships for the hundred thousandth time seems pointless. 

[jm]

Find me champion from the BCS era to now that wasn't GREAT at running the football (even if it was with a QB) and playing stellar D.

Ok, but what happens when you can't score in the red zone and don't play good defense.

[code red]

You must have forgotten how good Auburn's D was by the end of the season.

Yeah....they gave up 50 plus to us???

[PonderinHog]

Yeah....they gave up 50 plus to us???

No, they didn't.

[code red]

Arkansas will never recruit to both sides of the ball.  It will never happen unless you can recruit like those teams in the top 10 recruiting rankings.  This could be CBB demise.....IMHO....the template has been made for success at Arkansas...outscore folks.

[Buff]

Well, this was a quick thread

Not really.  So many people are going to think what they think regardless of evidence to the contrary, and those same posters will keep piling on and extending threads every chance they get.  It's the way of Hogville.

[hogsanity]

..the template has been made for success at Arkansas...outscore folks.

And doing that won how many SEC titles?   Oh, wait, it won none, just like every other "template".

The template for winning the sec has been laid out, have better players that everyone else. Now, how to get those players, in sufficient numbers, to come to Fayetteville, THAT is the question.

[sickboy]

Mostly, championship level talent wins games. Any system can win with the right personnel.

This is the logic that Hogville deserves.

[The Hogfather]

And doing that won how many SEC titles?   Oh, wait, it won none, just like every other "template".

The template for winning the sec has been laid out, have better players that everyone else. Now, how to get those players, in sufficient numbers, to come to Fayetteville, THAT is the question.

Pay them like Ole Miss does.  THAT is the only way.  No way in hell all of those highly regarded recruits would line up to go to Ole Miss without getting PAID.

[EastexHawg]

And doing that won how many SEC titles?   Oh, wait, it won none, just like every other "template".

The template for winning the sec has been laid out, have better players that everyone else. Now, how to get those players, in sufficient numbers, to come to Fayetteville, THAT is the question.

We've won 4 conference games since November of 2011 and the argument against the system with which we went 12-4 in the SEC over a two year span is that we didn't win a conference championship?

What's the argument for what we have done since?

[SooiecidetillNuttgone]

I believe this to be very true....if you look back to when the recruiting ranking first started being compiled I believe every national championship team had at least one top 5 class 3 years prior to the championship season. That is the only thing that has held consistent over the years. Need the talent.

Bah.

Stars don't matter.   /sarcasm

[NuttinItUp]

Winning football games wins championships, see wasn't that easy!

The team that scores the most points usually wins the game.

[code red]

And doing that won how many SEC titles?   Oh, wait, it won none, just like every other "template".

The template for winning the sec has been laid out, have better players that everyone else. Now, how to get those players, in sufficient numbers, to come to Fayetteville, THAT is the question.

Stack your chips on the offensive side.  Petrino would have had us there by year 8 if whe didn't mess up.  Case n point.  How can we get a guy like Kirk to come to Arkansas?  We can't..... Bc he can't be guaranteed throwes his way.  Bottom line we run a prehistoric offense that no kids want to play on.

[code red]

The team that scores the most points usually wins the game.

Bingo

[PorkSoda]

The team that scores the most points usually wins the game.

the team more often moves the ball into their opponents endzone usually scores the most points

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Mostly, championship level talent wins games. Any system can win with the right personnel.

Truth.  It appears as though this year there will be several contenders who have an effective scoring, potent offense.

We can ground and pound, as long as we end it with a TD.  Simply running out the clock, but then not being able to score is killing us and could ultimately be our downfall.

[usf15cc]

Looks like they both ran the ball very good going into that game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_BCS_National_Championship_Game

[Hawg414]

We've won 4 conference games since November of 2011 and the argument against the system with which we went 12-4 in the SEC over a two year span is that we didn't win a conference championship?

What's the argument for what we have done since?

yes. thank you.  hogsanitys two favorite whines are that petrino didnt win a conference championship (nevermind that he was only here 4 years, the first 2 of which you can throw out, and all 4 of which saw some of the best alabama and LSU teams we have seen in 25 years)... and that us dumb fans would rather lose a shootout than win a 10-7 game.  basically, he wants nutt back.. he wants to play it close.. and he wants to finish each year 7-5 or 8-4.  bc he has bought into "thats the best we can ever expect."

[12247]

In my opinion, an exceptional defense is 60 percent of the way to being an exceptional team.  If that same team could run the ball with success at any given moment, then that's a NC caliber team.  BAMA did that for a few years.  BAMA also has the real factor and that's talent 2 or 3 deep everywhere.  A good running game assists the defense more than a good passing game so it may be better to have great running than great passing. 

Talent, a good coaching staff and a bit of luck usually wins championships.  You will win many games if you have the talent and the coaches have the ability to react to the situation and counter it. 

I never believed Nutt would win big because he would get in the way with his ego and inability to react to the situation of the game and of course, he would likely be using less talent than the competition.  BB is identical to Nutt except he keeps his ego better hid, but Nutt had one thing BB doesn't.  Nutt could Rah Rah his team into winning a game or 2 every season but would temper that with his dumb decisions losing 1 or 2 every season.  BB and Nutt have  about the same mental picture of the game.  Both play not to lose.  Nutt would at least run into the timeout huddle and rah rah and slap asses.  BB acts like the huddle smells bad and stays away. 

[Pig In The City]

Arkansas will never recruit to both sides of the ball.  It will never happen unless you can recruit like those teams in the top 10 recruiting rankings.  This could be CBB demise.....IMHO....the template has been made for success at Arkansas...outscore folks.

There is wisdom here. I hope CBB is listening. He will have to modify his philosophy to win here. Petrino's best offense was when Knile was running like crazyand Mallett had the ability to throw deep. I think CBB believes in balance but so far we have no ability to challenge vertically.

[HogPharmer]

The team that scores the most points usually wins the game.

Truer words have never been spoken

[redeye]

They finished the season ranked 56th in total defense, which actually ranked below Petrino's defense that year. They weren't that good. It was a bend don't break defense.

That Auburn defense always played better in the 4th quarter, when it counted most.  That year was probably when people began suspecting Auburn of stealing calls, because of this.  Their offense was good enough to keep them in the game late and then their defense would step up and clamp down.  So while it's true that their defense wasn't rated high, it was still great when it needed to be.

I mostly agree with the OP that running and defense wins championships.  Any style can do it, but only if they can run the ball and play great defense late, like that Auburn team did.  In most instances, you'll probably need to be able to throw the ball, too, but Alabama only attempted 12 passes (completed 6 for 91 yards) against Texas in 2009, so I do think there's a little more leeway with having a one-dimensional run-first offense.

It's also easier to play great defense when you have a rushing offense, because you'll usually wear the other team's defense down quicker, while keeping their offense off the field.

On how it relates to Arkansas, we're not great at running the ball and our defense isn't great, either.

[carolinahogger]

Find me champion from the BCS era to now that wasn't GREAT at running the football (even if it was with a QB) and playing stellar D.

So what?  This is a Razorback board.  We are not shooting for a championship.  We are hoping against all odds to get 6 wins so we can go to a bowl.

[CareBear]

Auburn & Oregon both gained quite a few yards running the ball out of a spread type set. It obviously spreads the Defense out & it allows a team to utilize more deception than a Jumbo Big 10 set b/c a pass or run play can be called w/o it being obvious to eveyone in the stadium beforehand. CBB is very stubborn. May be his downfall... :razorback:

[farmhawg]

We've won 4 conference games since November of 2011 and the argument against the system with which we went 12-4 in the SEC over a two year span is that we didn't win a conference championship?

What's the argument for what we have done since?

well......

[redeye]

The OP asserted that teams need to run the ball great and play great defense to win national championships.  In Bielema's 3 years so far, we've played great defense for half a season and have only run the ball great against teams with poor rushing defenses.

Let's keep that in mind.

[Pig Worshipper]

The OP asserted that teams need to run the ball great and play great defense to win national championships.  In Bielema's 3 years so far, we've played great defense for half a season and have only run the ball great against teams with poor rushing defenses.

Let's keep that in mind.

Good points.
I guess, as many know, the open question is, should Arkansas try the Big Boy Great Defense Great Running scheme or switch back to the finesse Petrino/Briles I'll Outscore You style of football for the most success in the SEC. We've got Coach Bielema for the next two-three years so I sure hope Bruiser Ball works for us.

[LZH]

Winning football games wins championships, see wasn't that easy!

What?  I'm afraid you're over-simplifying it too much.  There must be a 12 page discussion on the topic by Hogville's finest before that conclusion may be reached.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Winning football games wins championships, see wasn't that easy!

So enlightening. If it is that easy maybe you should submit your resume to Long?

[Redhogs]

yes. thank you.  hogsanitys two favorite whines are that petrino didnt win a conference championship (nevermind that he was only here 4 years, the first 2 of which you can throw out, and all 4 of which saw some of the best alabama and LSU teams we have seen in 25 years)... and that us dumb fans would rather lose a shootout than win a 10-7 game.  basically, he wants nutt back.. he wants to play it close.. and he wants to finish each year 7-5 or 8-4.  bc he has bought into "thats the best we can ever expect."

That about sums him up...he has "poor li'l ole Arky" syndrome....BAD. Biggest excuse maker for losing this board will ever see.

[Redhogs]

So enlightening. If it is that easy maybe you should submit your resume to Long?

Some coaches manage to do it....just NEVER our coach.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Some coaches manage to do it....just NEVER our coach.

Alert! Alert! Your bias is showing. Gus ain't coming, neither is Petrino, nor Art Briles.

[farmhawg]

Yep. We should settle for the crappy product that is being put on the field because we can't do any better......

[Oliver]

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