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One thing that has been notable in college football this year is that there haven't been as many blowouts as usual. We all saw close up that UNT kept SMU close for a half, and the LA Tech game was closer than expected. But there have been a ton of surprises and close games across college football.

Something to keep track of is what the impact of the double senior class is having on balancing the playing field. Great players left for the pros, but most of the seniors from last season stuck around. And it could be that so many teams across the country are loaded with experience that it has really balanced the playing field. At the end of the day, the best team is still going to win. But the increased experience across the board narrows the gap.

It could be that the close games between Cal-TCU and SMU-LaTech are a result of the extreme number of seniors, and thus more balanced competition, rather than TCU or SMU underperforming in those games.

Just something to keep our eye on as the year moves along. And it might be a reason to focus on W-L rather than worrying about how much we beat a "lesser" opponent by.

Also, it seems like almost every Group of Five starting quarterback has transferred from a Power Five school.

I think this is the reason my school is so bad this year. We are dead last in college football for returning players and our inexperience is even more apparent with all the maturity everyone else has. I guess going from ranked division champs to cellar dwellers in one year is parity, lol. Looking forward to 2022.

SMU Pom Mom wrote:I think this is the reason my school is so bad this year. We are dead last in college football for returning players and our inexperience is even more apparent with all the maturity everyone else has. I guess going from ranked division champs to cellar dwellers in one year is parity, lol. Looking forward to 2022.

Your school is Northwestern, right? Stick with the QB who finished the Duke game last week and not the one who started it and y’all will be fine.

Dukie wrote:[Your school is Northwestern, right? Stick with the QB who finished the Duke game last week and not the one who started it and y’all will be fine.

You are far more optimistic than the folks on the NU forum, lol. On the plus side, we are finally getting a new stadium! So look for us to stink up Soldier Field in 2023-2024!

Donnell88 wrote:Also, it seems like almost every Group of Five starting quarterback has transferred from a Power Five school.

Plenty of talented QBs helping G5 programs these days. Don't know how many watched the App State vs Marshall game last night as the well traveled Chase Brice (who started his college career at Clemson before moving on to Duke) helped App State come back from being down 30-21 in the 4th quarter and beat Marshall 31-30 in what was a very entertaining game