re: I really miss old school SEC football

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Ironically major rule changes are the reason we are seeing an uptick in mediocre defenses.

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I played in the defensive backfield both in high school and college. I knew what the rules were when I signed up. Even in my years of playing, you could watch subtle changes.

Think about the difficulty a db has. He doesn't know what the route-runner will do. Even the fastest corner can get burned if he lets the receiver get too close. With as little as a 5 yd pad, the receiver can turn a flat (and even run back toward the los) - you've give up 8 yds before the taking into account yards after reception. The db may be able to bump and run at the start of the play but ANYTHING else subjectively could be called for DPI.

Everyone loves offense, especially the media, which now controls too much of the game. More 56 yd TD passes thrown by Justin Fields and incredible one-hand receptions by Devonta Smith are what attract eye-balls and highlight reels.

As much as we miss old, immovable defenses, I'm afraid they were signaled gone when Saban stated 'Good defenses can't beat good offenses'.