Reason for defensive dominance, reality of bad calls, more mail

Defensive end Sergio Kindle has emerged as a dominant figure on Texas' top 10 defense. John Albright/Icon SMI Stewart Mandel's Mailbag Submit a question or an opinion to Stewart. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Stewart Mandel on Twitter

I'll admit it. Given the choice, I much prefer to watch a back-and-forth shootout (think Texas-Oklahoma last year) than a defensive stalemate (think Texas-Oklahoma this year). So it's been somewhat unsatisfying that the four games I've covered in person this season have been decided by scores of 19-8 (Boise State-Oregon), 18-15 (USC-Ohio State), 13-3 (Florida-LSU) and 16-13 (Texas-Oklahoma).

By point of comparison, last year I covered nine regular-season games, and in eight the winner scored at least 31 points.

But 2008 was the year of Big 12 shootouts and 4,000-yard passers. For the most part, 2009 has seen far more defensive dominance, at least in big games.

The question is, why?

The spread offense was extremely successful last season, but it seems to have taken a big step backwards this year. Case in point: The score in the Texas-OU game last year was 45-35, but Saturday it was a defensive struggle, 16-13. Have the defenses adjusted already or is the personnel lacking? That is, did all the Chase Daniels of the world graduate and Sam Bradfords get injured?
-- Chris Tiroff, Bastrop, Texas

While it's certainly possible defenses are catching up to the spread, it's far too soon to say. We'll have to wait and see whether the trend continues over a multi-year period. As of now, I'd say it's unlikely. More teams are running the spread than ever before, including the current top five in scoring offense (Texas, Texas Tech, Houston, Cincinnati and Kansas).

What you're seeing is more the byproduct of college football's cyclical nature -- some players graduate, others return and teams' identities change accordingly. Looking at the teams currently at or near the top of the rankings, it's no coincidence that most returned more veterans on defense than offense.

Case in point: Texas and Oklahoma. A year ago, the two rivals were known primarily for their breakneck passing attacks. While Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford returned (granted, Bradford got hurt), key members of their supporting casts did not. The teams' defenses, however, are loaded with veterans who, if you look back, started to gel toward the end of last season. Now guys like Sergio Kindle and Earl Thomas (Texas) and Jeremy Beal and Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma) are the dominant figures on their teams. The 'Horns defense is one of the very best in the country, which marks quite an improvement from a year ago.

The same goes for Florida, which returned its entire defensive two-deep but lost a bunch of productive receivers. Last year's high-flying Gators have reinvented themselves as a ball-control team. Alabama also returned more defensive than offensive stars, though its identity hasn't changed that much.

Meanwhile, upstart teams like Iowa, Miami and Oregon all possess top 25 defenses. Contrast that to previous years, when non-traditional teams like West Virginia, Texas Tech and Missouri ascended the polls thanks to prolific offenses.

Two notable exceptions to this trend: USC and Cincinnati, which between them returned all of three defensive starters yet still both sit in the top five. The Trojans have simply reloaded like they often do. The Bearcats, while decent defensively, fit more into the aforementioned mold of recent, non-traditional programs. Defenses certainly haven't caught up to Brian Kelly's spread.

The past few seasons may have been a golden era for offenses, but it's worth noting that for all the Chase Daniels and Graham Harrells that came through the ranks, the teams that ultimately won national championships (Florida in 2006 and '08, LSU in '07) did so with elite defenses. Remember how I covered all those high-scoring games last year? When it came down to the most important one of all -- Florida vs. Oklahoma -- the final score was 24-14.

I know it's cliché, but while offense is entertaining, defense wins championships. With so many high-level defenses this year, we should probably expect a whole lot more 16-13 slugfests on the road to Pasadena.

I'm a Virginia Tech grad stationed here in Arkansas, and while I am upset with the Hokies stumbling in a must-win game last weekend, my fury is nothing compared to the local Razorback fans who are CONVINCED there was a conspiracy to ensure Florida won last week's game in the fourth quarter when the refs blatantly called penalties that never occurred (pass interference and personal foul). They argue that the SEC intentionally sabotaged the game to give us the dream matchup of undefeated Alabama vs. Florida. What's your take on the situation?
-- Frank, Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

Believe me, the conspiracy theories are hardly limited to Arkansas. My inbox has been flooded since Saturday night with indignant e-mails about the officiating in that game. (Apparently nobody read the Mailbag two weeks ago when voiced my general apathy toward fans' officiating gripes.)

You would think it was the only thing that happened in college football all weekend. Even Terrell Owens noticed.

I've watched the videos, and they were obviously bad calls. You know what else they were? The type of bad calls that take place in almost every single football game. As a matter of fact, there were at least two equally questionable personal foul calls against USC in last Saturday's Notre Dame game (Taylor Mays' "late hit" on a player who appeared to still be in bounds and an unsportsmanlike conduct on Everson Griffin for a very innocuous celebration after he made a tackle). I didn't hear much outrage over those.

The only reason the Florida-Arkansas calls have drawn such magnified attention is because the No. 1 team in the country appeared in danger of losing -- and I can only assume nearly every fan outside of Florida was rooting for it to happen. Egregious as they were, those calls did not cost Arkansas the game. They happened with nine minutes left. The Razorbacks still had their chance to kick a go-ahead field goal and/or stop the Gators' own game-winning drive.

You can buy into some kooky SEC conspiracy theory if you'd like, but you'll have to explain to me how exactly it works. Does Mike Slive sit in a control room somewhere and push a button that activates a buzzer in the official's ear whenever he wants a certain call made? Is he funneling some of those CBS/ESPN billions to a secret Swiss bank account from which the refs withdraw their cut? Because I have to tell you, the last people that stand to benefit from a No. 1 vs. No. 2 SEC championship game are the refs. They're independent contractors who work for peanuts.

But there's no question the SEC has a credibility issue right now with its officiating, and it's largely self-inflicted. Because of its teams' national success and exposure, the games are more heavily viewed and scrutinized than other conferences'. And as Dr. Saturday blogger Matt Hinton wrote this week, the league isn't doing itself any favors by publicly throwing its refs under the bus. That only reinforces fans' negative perceptions.

I hate to break it to you, people, but bad calls are like airline delays -- they're going to happen.