The HUNH coaches say that their offensive style does not cause a higher risk of sports injuries, but that's ridiculous. Let me preface by saying that I am not suggesting that the HUNH be abolished or anything like that. I'm just saying that the fast-pace, prevention of substitutions, and prevention of hydration that are the byproducts of that style of play do create a more dangerous situation for athletes and it is incorrect to state otherwise.
There are multiple studies (1, 2, 3) that show that fatigue (both short-term and long-term induced) causes joints to react differently than they do in non-fatigued situations. The protocol used for the short-term induced fatigue in one study was vaguely similar (a bit longer in duration at 6 minutes and the study was performed on female soccer players that would be in better cardiovascular shape than a typical defensive lineman) to what might be experienced by a player during a fast-paced, no-breaks, no-substitutions HUNH drive. This study concluded
There's one study that shows that a higher average time-on-ice instead of total time-on-ice for hockey players correlates to higher incidence of concussions. This would also infer that short-term induced fatigue is a factor in concussions.
Then there's the fact of hydration. In the non-HUNH style of play, substitutions are made and this gives players the ability to come off the field not only for some short term rest, but also to re-hydrate. The American College of Sports Medicine published a roundtable on hydration and here are some excerpts:
Many of the proponents of HUNH say that it's the responsibility of the defense to have their players in better shape (or use smaller, lighter players) to reduce the risk of injuries, but the studies prove that the higher intensity and lower frequency of breaks for hydration is more dangerous for any athlete. It may be less dangerous for better conditioned athletes, but there is still increased risk regardless. In many cases, it seems that HUNH offenses will purposely go to the fast pace when the defense has brought in larger, less-conditioned athletes for a situational play in order to try to take advantage of him, so it seems as if they are attempting to cause fatigue in those at-risk players for their own gain.
I can understand that tactic and it makes sense. However, the HUNH proponents should not naively state that there isn't an increased danger of injury when they purposely attempt to fatigue a larger player when there are studies that EXPLICITLY state that fatigue does increase the risk of connective tissue injury and even concussion. I have no illusions that Bama's physical style of play using larger players and a violent running game causes injuries to opposing players (pure physics of momentum). That's our tactic, it works for us, and their tactic works for them.
There is one aspect of the HUNH game that I hate. When a defensive player does become overly fatigued and needs to come out or sustains some form of injury, the HUNH coaches start throwing a fit and their crowds begin to boo the player, inferring by default that the player is faking the injury to produce a break in play. That INFURIATES me. Their style of play is MEANT to fatigue players, so why do they react so violently when they succeed in taking down a defensive player either by fatigue or injury? They have no way to know if the injury is legitimate or not, so they should hold their judgement until they know for sure. How will they feel one day when a guy breaks his neck during one of their HUNH paced plays and hears the crowd booing him and the opposing coach screaming insults at him?
In last years Auburn game, Brandon Ivory goes down at about the 3:50 mark in the 3rd quarter. He's a big boy and I'm sure he was quite fatigued at this point, but he is involved with one OL and another engages him from behind, he goes down and the second OL lands on him hard on the back of his knee. Since the second lineman engaged him high, it wasn't a chop block, but he was still hit hard from behind while his legs were dug in to exert force against the lineman he initially engaged. Ivory as far as I can tell never looks over at the Bama bench, attempts to get up, and it is evident that his apparent injury is to the very knee on which that Auburn lineman landed. Of course, the fanbase begins to boo and Malzahn is pointing and griping as the Bama trainers go out to check on Ivory.
When players are injured against Bama, the crowd typically goes silent and then they cheer the player as he leaves the field. That's the respectful way to do it. I wonder if those HUNH fanbases will boo their own guys that are injured during a HUNH run? Probably not. Their players are allowed to be injured. It's just the opposition that shouldn't.
This is what makes me despise the HUNH, the coaches that use it, and the fanbases of those programs. I had no real ill will against Gus Malzahn until that play. I now hope he's the most pathetic failure in the history of pathetic failures and will be nominated for the presidency of the Pathetic Failure club, only to lose by one vote to a guy who gave Salmonella poisoning to the judges on Hell's Kitchen with undercooked eggs in his dish.
There are multiple studies (1, 2, 3) that show that fatigue (both short-term and long-term induced) causes joints to react differently than they do in non-fatigued situations. The protocol used for the short-term induced fatigue in one study was vaguely similar (a bit longer in duration at 6 minutes and the study was performed on female soccer players that would be in better cardiovascular shape than a typical defensive lineman) to what might be experienced by a player during a fast-paced, no-breaks, no-substitutions HUNH drive. This study concluded
There are some other studies that have found that female athletes are more susceptible to fatigue-induced connective tissue injuries than male athletes, but I think that it would be ludicrous to believe that fatigue does not play some part in connective tissue injuries in men as well.
There's one study that shows that a higher average time-on-ice instead of total time-on-ice for hockey players correlates to higher incidence of concussions. This would also infer that short-term induced fatigue is a factor in concussions.
Then there's the fact of hydration. In the non-HUNH style of play, substitutions are made and this gives players the ability to come off the field not only for some short term rest, but also to re-hydrate. The American College of Sports Medicine published a roundtable on hydration and here are some excerpts:
Not having the ability to re-hydrate certainly could be creating some risks for the health of these student-athletes.
Many of the proponents of HUNH say that it's the responsibility of the defense to have their players in better shape (or use smaller, lighter players) to reduce the risk of injuries, but the studies prove that the higher intensity and lower frequency of breaks for hydration is more dangerous for any athlete. It may be less dangerous for better conditioned athletes, but there is still increased risk regardless. In many cases, it seems that HUNH offenses will purposely go to the fast pace when the defense has brought in larger, less-conditioned athletes for a situational play in order to try to take advantage of him, so it seems as if they are attempting to cause fatigue in those at-risk players for their own gain.
I can understand that tactic and it makes sense. However, the HUNH proponents should not naively state that there isn't an increased danger of injury when they purposely attempt to fatigue a larger player when there are studies that EXPLICITLY state that fatigue does increase the risk of connective tissue injury and even concussion. I have no illusions that Bama's physical style of play using larger players and a violent running game causes injuries to opposing players (pure physics of momentum). That's our tactic, it works for us, and their tactic works for them.
There is one aspect of the HUNH game that I hate. When a defensive player does become overly fatigued and needs to come out or sustains some form of injury, the HUNH coaches start throwing a fit and their crowds begin to boo the player, inferring by default that the player is faking the injury to produce a break in play. That INFURIATES me. Their style of play is MEANT to fatigue players, so why do they react so violently when they succeed in taking down a defensive player either by fatigue or injury? They have no way to know if the injury is legitimate or not, so they should hold their judgement until they know for sure. How will they feel one day when a guy breaks his neck during one of their HUNH paced plays and hears the crowd booing him and the opposing coach screaming insults at him?
In last years Auburn game, Brandon Ivory goes down at about the 3:50 mark in the 3rd quarter. He's a big boy and I'm sure he was quite fatigued at this point, but he is involved with one OL and another engages him from behind, he goes down and the second OL lands on him hard on the back of his knee. Since the second lineman engaged him high, it wasn't a chop block, but he was still hit hard from behind while his legs were dug in to exert force against the lineman he initially engaged. Ivory as far as I can tell never looks over at the Bama bench, attempts to get up, and it is evident that his apparent injury is to the very knee on which that Auburn lineman landed. Of course, the fanbase begins to boo and Malzahn is pointing and griping as the Bama trainers go out to check on Ivory.
When players are injured against Bama, the crowd typically goes silent and then they cheer the player as he leaves the field. That's the respectful way to do it. I wonder if those HUNH fanbases will boo their own guys that are injured during a HUNH run? Probably not. Their players are allowed to be injured. It's just the opposition that shouldn't.
This is what makes me despise the HUNH, the coaches that use it, and the fanbases of those programs. I had no real ill will against Gus Malzahn until that play. I now hope he's the most pathetic failure in the history of pathetic failures and will be nominated for the presidency of the Pathetic Failure club, only to lose by one vote to a guy who gave Salmonella poisoning to the judges on Hell's Kitchen with undercooked eggs in his dish.
