HUNH Injuries

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
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If someone said playing 12 games would increase the number of injuries on average NOBODY would argue that point. And what's the root analysis? The fact you have more plays. Consequently, how anyone can sit there and say, "More plays does NOT translate to more injuries," I don't know. And in this case we're talking about injuries caused by players being on the field play after play after play after play with no respite.

If FATIGUE is not a contributing factor then why do teams try to sub out as often as possible? I don't honestly see how anyone can plausibly argue otherwise. Now.....whether that translates into a valid reason for putting the brakes on HUNH is actually something else altogether different.

Do I think Saban's sole concern was injury? No.

But I also don't think Malzahn is blissfully unaware of all the 12 men on the field and linemen past the line of scrimmage fouls his team gets away with, either.
This sums up my view on the subject perfectly. We may never have evidence beyond our common sense, so we need to trust our common sense. HUNH leads to more plays per game, which leads to more injuries.

But I do not believe that coaches run the HUNH to purposely circumvent the rules. I believe that they do it to gain an advantage over teams which would otherwise bludgeon them to "death" in a game. When you are not as big, you try to use your speed and athleticism to your advantage in sports. The HUNH does exactly that. If they also happen to gain an advantage because officials refuse to maintain a pace of play that allows them to be in a proper position to do their jobs, that is on the officials. It is the coach's job to find ways to win. It is the official's job to control the game.

Also consider that there are many types of HUNH offenses out there. Auburn is not running the same offense that we see at other schools. They only hurry to the LOS. They do not snap the ball immediately unless they have gained an advantage at that point that they want to press. Once at the LOS, if no clear advantage is present, they slow it down and go into their "meerkat" mode. This stops the defense from substituting since they stay at the LOS, but also results in Auburn running fewer plays than most teams that run a form of the HUNH. They maintain the advantage of running their choice of plays against the defensive personnel on the field (no more situational substitutions, which Saban/Smart were the best in the business at). This is the greatest advantage of Malzahn's version of this offense, IMO.
 

mittman

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Jun 19, 2009
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If someone said playing 12 games would increase the number of injuries on average NOBODY would argue that point. And what's the root analysis? The fact you have more plays. Consequently, how anyone can sit there and say, "More plays does NOT translate to more injuries," I don't know. And in this case we're talking about injuries caused by players being on the field play after play after play after play with no respite.

If FATIGUE is not a contributing factor then why do teams try to sub out as often as possible? I don't honestly see how anyone can plausibly argue otherwise. Now.....whether that translates into a valid reason for putting the brakes on HUNH is actually something else altogether different.

Do I think Saban's sole concern was injury? No.

But I also don't think Malzahn is blissfully unaware of all the 12 men on the field and linemen past the line of scrimmage fouls his team gets away with, either. That's precisely why he uses it. Force him into traditional football and he'll be back at Springdale High School.
This sums up my view on the subject perfectly. We may never have evidence beyond our common sense, so we need to trust our common sense. HUNH leads to more plays per game, which leads to more injuries.

But I do not believe that coaches run the HUNH to purposely circumvent the rules. I believe that they do it to gain an advantage over teams which would otherwise bludgeon them to "death" in a game. When you are not as big, you try to use your speed and athleticism to your advantage in sports. The HUNH does exactly that. If they also happen to gain an advantage because officials refuse to maintain a pace of play that allows them to be in a proper position to do their jobs, that is on the officials. It is the coach's job to find ways to win. It is the official's job to control the game.

Also consider that there are many types of HUNH offenses out there. Auburn is not running the same offense that we see at other schools. They only hurry to the LOS. They do not snap the ball immediately unless they have gained an advantage at that point that they want to press. Once at the LOS, if no clear advantage is present, they slow it down and go into their "meerkat" mode. This stops the defense from substituting since they stay at the LOS, but also results in Auburn running fewer plays than most teams that run a form of the HUNH. They maintain the advantage of running their choice of plays against the defensive personnel on the field (no more situational substitutions, which Saban/Smart were the best in the business at). This is the greatest advantage of Malzahn's version of this offense, IMO.
*like these*

Well said guys. We pay our coaches a great deal of money to be able to gain advantages over other teams. They are both trying to do their jobs. Coach Saban has repeatedly said that he is having to recruit more talent diverse players instead of specialty role players on defense. It appears to me that he is adjusting quite well.

At some point there may be data to indicate a big enough difference in injuries where the PTB will do something to limit the plays per game. I don't think we are close to being there yet.
 

Al Becker

3rd Team
Jan 25, 2011
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Trussville, Al.
Of course we all know that there is no connection between the HNUH and injuries, but tonight the NFL implemented the same program that the SEC did that will allow an observer in the press box to stop play if he sees a potential injury. They cited a play in the SB where play wasn't stopped because of the HUNH. My guess is that this is another of the combination that will eventually lead to its demise. Hopefully anyway.
 

imauafan

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Mar 3, 2004
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Huntsville, AL
The thing that I see with most HUNH offenses is that they try to create mismatches and use the entire field and they typically are not physical offenses. Much to their credit, AU has been the most physical HUNH team that I've seen with their more run-based approach vs the typical pass-first HUNH offense. However, even with that they still were creating mismatches, misdirection, and using the entire field so it was not like they were playing a smash-mouth, 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense. I would argue that this style would create less injuries, not more, regardless of the number of plays in a typical game.
 

Al Becker

3rd Team
Jan 25, 2011
284
0
0
Trussville, Al.
The thing that I see with most HUNH offenses is that they try to create mismatches and use the entire field and they typically are not physical offenses. Much to their credit, AU has been the most physical HUNH team that I've seen with their more run-based approach vs the typical pass-first HUNH offense. However, even with that they still were creating mismatches, misdirection, and using the entire field so it was not like they were playing a smash-mouth, 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense. I would argue that this style would create less injuries, not more, regardless of the number of plays in a typical game.
That stands to reason in some regards, but not considering that the idea is to run more plays, create fatigue and play before all of the players and officials are ready. The point of the stop play rule with an observer is the ability to keep another play from being fun while an injured player is still in the field. Additionally, the open field play creates opportunities for more violent collisions similar to kick offs and punts. I believe that the styles of offense run these days in general make the safety rules such as targeting more important.

i guess I'm just old school and think that teams should have the opportunity to properly set themselves and more importantly, officials should have time to properly position themselves prior to the snap.

There are teams including auburn, that use the HUNH to game the system. It's not a new concept. It has just gone from a 2 minute to an entire game.

Just my random thoughts as I struggle through the last days of the offseason.
 

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