College Football 101: A Beginner’s Guide
So you would like to become a college football fanatic, but the game itself is a bit strange to you? Don’t feel bad. With so much information to keep track of from week to week, even the most seasons fans must catch up on the college football predictions before enjoying their favorite game.
College football is not that different from professional football. Let’s go over the fundamentals. In a football contest there is an offense and a defense. The offense generally keeps possession of the ball, and ergo is able to score, while the defense tries to keep the offense from bringing the ball into the end zone. Teams change their roles from offense to defense after a certain amount of plays to allow both an equal chance to score. The offense or defense is determined prior to the beginning of the game by a coin toss. The visiting team is afforded the opportunity to call the coin toss. A team generally scores points solely when it is on offense. The goal of the offensive team is to make their way into the other team’s territory and bring the ball to the endzone.
There are two ways to advance the ball through the field either by running the ball or passing it to a teammate who, upon receiving the football, runs with it until he either makes it into the endzone or is tackled by an opposing player.
The defense, meanwhile, is supposed to prevent the offense from scoring. They stop the efforts of the offensive players by snuffing out their attempts at scoring. Defensive players guard the offensive players, often tackling the one who is holding the ball. The defense should do whatever it takes to stop the ball from moving forward. By taking down the ball-carrier, the defense can sometimes even move the ball backward. Sometimes the defense manages to tackle the quarterback while the football is still in his posession. This is dubbed a sack. As with professional football, the team that scores the most points emerges victorious.
It’s just that simple. So now you can impress your friends with your vast college football knowledge.