COLUMN: The changes in college football in the past couple of decades have become very noticeable

“Ch-ch-ca-ch-changes. Turn and face the strange changes.” – David Bowie

Taking a little liberty with the late Mr. Bowie’s lyrics, what are some of the changes you have noticed in, say, in the past couple of decades in football?

Here are a few of mine.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when the rule of thumb on returning punts was for the returner to “put your feet on the 10-yard line and don’t move back.”

In other words, if the ball is over the returner’s head when he is planted at the 10, it is likely to go in the end zone for a touchback.

That rule of thumb is no longer adhered to because of the skill of the punters to place the ball inside the 10 and the speed of the coverage men to have the ability to down a kick inside the 10.

In the past few years, in particular, I have seen more and more punts fair caught inside the 10-yard line and as deep as the five-yard line.

You see it all the time – a punt fair caught around the seven-yard line with coverage men already behind the returner. Not that long ago, that was a no-no.

Another change that absolutely highlights the vast improvement of a specific skill set is how many field goal kickers these days have so much more leg strength, and accuracy, than the placekickers of the past.

It seems like the norm now for coaches to elect to kick field goals beyond 50 yards out and some into the 60s.

Not only that, but the accuracy of kickers – particularly in the professional ranks – is just as impressive and seemingly just as improved. Those guys are money.

Look no further than Ole Miss for the strength of leg proof. In the Tulane game, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was not the least bit hesitant to send Rebel placekicker Caden Davis out to kick a 56-yard field goal at a crucial time in the game.

If you recall, the Rebels were only up 27-20 with almost three minutes to go in the game. A miss by Davis would have given the Green Wave, who by the way ended the regular season 11-1 with the only loss being to the Rebels, the ball on their 40 with plenty of time to score.

Kiffin didn’t flinch, and thankfully, neither did Davis. The Rebs took a 10-point lead and ended up winning by 17, 37-20.

The point being, not that long ago, that was likely to be a circumstance where a team might punt because PKs who were good beyond 50 yards were rarer.

Advances in the strength and conditioning exercises/workouts for kickers have made a huge difference but so have youngsters starting to specialize more and more at a younger age. Where will it end? 70-yard field goals?

The changes do not stop with special teams

Another phase of the game that has advanced well beyond yesteryear is how little time is necessary for modern offenses to go the length of the field to get late scores before halftime or at the end of the game.

It wasn’t that long ago if an offense took over the ball at the two-minute mark on their own 20, they would just run out the clock normally.

Now, if an offense takes over at their own 20 and there is 1 minute on the clock, the announcers are proclaiming “there’s plenty of time on the clock.” And guess what? There is.

With the advancement of the modern passing game, pass defense rules that favor receivers, quarterbacks who have better arms and tams used to tempo offenses, it’s gotten common to see offenses go the length of the field in what seems like no time to set up late TDs or field goals.

The obvious rules changes that have come along are for safety reasons and needed because athletes are much bigger, stronger and faster than years gone by and without rules like targeting or hitting defenseless receivers or blindside blocks/hits or where and when you can hit a quarterback, there would be far more injuries than there already are.

Players like Jack Tatum of the Oakland Raiders, Steve Atwater of the Denver Broncos, Jack Lambert of the Pittsburgh Steelers and so on would be banned from the game if they played now the way they played then, but it was all within the rules “back then.”

So, take a page out of Mr. Bowie’s song and tell me what are some of the ch-ch-ch-ch-changes you have seen in football in the past couple of decades?

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