The Good Side of Guarantee Football Games
Stuart Nachbar
November 23, 2009
Last Thursday, I went to a meeting of the Rutgers Touchdown Club, the fan club for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team. I admit that I only became a member after my first season with season tickets, but I'm happy to be a fan of a team that has played in bowl games for the past four seasons, and is bowl-eligible again.
Among the speakers at this meeting was Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti, a former Scarlet Knights tight end, broadcaster and executive vice president of CBS Sports Network. Pernetti discussed the next season's football schedule, among other topics. And he added that: "our 1-AA (now Championship Subdivision) game will be against Norfolk State." Norfolk State is a historically black school that Rutgers last beat 59-0. The Scarlet Knights scored a school-record 42 points in the second quarter. Pernetti was not the athletic director at that time, and I don't know if he was involved in scheduling next season's clash, but I did not see smiles across the room. However, there are also good reasons for scheduling such a game that deserve equal time.
I'll start this off with a comment by Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley. Rutgers played his team last season. When asked if he wanted his team to treat this game as their bowl game, he told a NJ.com reporter:
It's a situation for us where we have young men, whether they turned down major 1-A situations to get to this situation ... it's just the whole atmosphere of the game. To be able to go up against a team like Rutgers, or any 1-A program from that standpoint, and give them an opportunity to experience the scene of the game at that level, it gives them an opportunity to showcase their talents. We're looking forward to it. The young men are definitely excited about and I'm quite sure they're going to give us a lot of effort.
This was not much different than the answer Georgia State coach Bill Curry gave to ESPN the Magazine when asked about playing Alabama.
So, one good reason for guarantee games is that good athletes get exposure to more noted talent and they get a chance to elevate their game to a higher level.
And there are other good reasons to play:
The money's good. The $450,000 check that Alabama will pay Georgia State will go a long way to covering the costs of Georgia State's football program. If your sports program is running a deficit, then another school might be willing to help close that financial gap for you.
Football programs need the wins. A bowl subdivision team needs six or seven wins to become bowl-eligible and guarantee game wins count just like any other wins, because so many schools play guarantee games. Rutgers, an emerging program, needed the guarantee games to get a seventh win over the past two seasons. And it's better to set the tone for your homecoming with a near-certain win than a possible loss.
Back-up players get to play. I cannot imagine the fortitude of a college football player who practices diligently, but never gets to set foot on the field. Guarantee games provide that opportunity to play, and with more than one game, possibly letter.
Coaches get to test ideas. Coaches work week to week to add new plays, which they test in controlled scrimmages with their own players. Testing them in a guarantee game is like testing them in an uncontrolled scrimmage. College football is not like the NFL where two teams can scrimmage on the practice field during the pre-season
Last season, at least for Rutgers, a guarantee game win stopped a losing streak. In those situations coaches prepare harder to secure a win.
I consider myself to be a fairly bright person, but it's taken me too long to realize that a successful football program has two ingredients: a winning team and a stadium that is always filled to capacity. Guarantee games help most accomplish the first mission. In the best programs such as Alabama and Florida they don't hinder the second.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. Learn more about his novel, Defending College Heights, an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter, at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
Among the speakers at this meeting was Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti, a former Scarlet Knights tight end, broadcaster and executive vice president of CBS Sports Network. Pernetti discussed the next season's football schedule, among other topics. And he added that: "our 1-AA (now Championship Subdivision) game will be against Norfolk State." Norfolk State is a historically black school that Rutgers last beat 59-0. The Scarlet Knights scored a school-record 42 points in the second quarter. Pernetti was not the athletic director at that time, and I don't know if he was involved in scheduling next season's clash, but I did not see smiles across the room. However, there are also good reasons for scheduling such a game that deserve equal time.
I'll start this off with a comment by Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley. Rutgers played his team last season. When asked if he wanted his team to treat this game as their bowl game, he told a NJ.com reporter:
It's a situation for us where we have young men, whether they turned down major 1-A situations to get to this situation ... it's just the whole atmosphere of the game. To be able to go up against a team like Rutgers, or any 1-A program from that standpoint, and give them an opportunity to experience the scene of the game at that level, it gives them an opportunity to showcase their talents. We're looking forward to it. The young men are definitely excited about and I'm quite sure they're going to give us a lot of effort.
This was not much different than the answer Georgia State coach Bill Curry gave to ESPN the Magazine when asked about playing Alabama.
So, one good reason for guarantee games is that good athletes get exposure to more noted talent and they get a chance to elevate their game to a higher level.
And there are other good reasons to play:
The money's good. The $450,000 check that Alabama will pay Georgia State will go a long way to covering the costs of Georgia State's football program. If your sports program is running a deficit, then another school might be willing to help close that financial gap for you.
Football programs need the wins. A bowl subdivision team needs six or seven wins to become bowl-eligible and guarantee game wins count just like any other wins, because so many schools play guarantee games. Rutgers, an emerging program, needed the guarantee games to get a seventh win over the past two seasons. And it's better to set the tone for your homecoming with a near-certain win than a possible loss.
Back-up players get to play. I cannot imagine the fortitude of a college football player who practices diligently, but never gets to set foot on the field. Guarantee games provide that opportunity to play, and with more than one game, possibly letter.
Coaches get to test ideas. Coaches work week to week to add new plays, which they test in controlled scrimmages with their own players. Testing them in a guarantee game is like testing them in an uncontrolled scrimmage. College football is not like the NFL where two teams can scrimmage on the practice field during the pre-season
Last season, at least for Rutgers, a guarantee game win stopped a losing streak. In those situations coaches prepare harder to secure a win.
I consider myself to be a fairly bright person, but it's taken me too long to realize that a successful football program has two ingredients: a winning team and a stadium that is always filled to capacity. Guarantee games help most accomplish the first mission. In the best programs such as Alabama and Florida they don't hinder the second.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. Learn more about his novel, Defending College Heights, an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter, at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
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