When To Come out?

When is it the right time to take your starters out? On Saturday I was at the Clemson, FAU game watching my Tigers play, and late in the third quarter while up 31-6 the Tigers' star middle linebacker and second best player on defense Anthony Waters was injured. I was angry at the time, but even more angry now as the tests have shown that he has a torn ACL and will miss the entire season. This is already the second big blow to the linebacking core as starting outside linebacker Tremaine Billie is out for the first half of the season already.

My question is simple. When should you take some of your starters out in a laugher? It's easy to look back now for me to say that he should have come out after the first half. After seeing him and Bush go down in the first weekend of football, it's tough for that to happen in your first game...a tune up game. What do you guys think should be the right time, or score to take some players out?

Date

Mon 09/04/06, 8:02 am EST

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ASwaffAll-American

733 days ago

Score 2

I think it depends on who you're playing. If it's still in the third quarter and I have a 31-6 lead over a team like Ohio State or USC, I'm leaving my starters in. Those offenses could still come back on you with that much game left to play. Against FAU, unless I have a big game next week that I feel I need my starters to get sharpened for, I'm gonna have them out at halftime.

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ASwaffAll-American

733 days ago

Score 0

Now that I actually look at it, I notice that Clemson is at Boston College in their next game, and at Florida State after that. They should be able to man-handle Boston College (after how they played against CMU), but that's a big game. So is FSU. So, considering that, I think I would have still had my starters in, even in a laugher. They've got to get real playing time before those games.

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

733 days ago

Score 0

This was a major topic throughtout the Ohio State/NIU game. NIU kept staying a little too close to pull all the starters at once. I think if you have over a 21 point lead (against anyone) you can pull your starters. If the other team starts to make a run it's not like you can't put them back in. One thing I did find interesting in the OSU game is that the first non-starter to go in was Chris Wells. Tressel kept calling his number until he fumbled. I think Tressel was hoping Wells would fumble because it would be a safe (with the lead they had) helping of humble pie for the much-hyped rookie.

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ASwaffAll-American

733 days ago

Score 0

But then you see stuff like this replay I saw a couple of weeks ago of the 1980 Holiday Bowl, SMU versus BYU. This is when these two programs were actually very talented. SMU had something like a 16 point lead with four minutes left to play. It seemed insurmountable, but BYU came back. SMU pulled their defensive starters, but put them back in when BYU started to come back. Too late. They lost. I don't assume that a 21 point lead in the third quarter is safe against anyone. Against NIU or FIU, yes, that lead is safe. Against a better team, no.

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HappyskinnyAll-American

733 days ago

Score 0

Yeah but that was in a bowl game. You shouldn't be taking your guys out in a game like that, but I mean if your up by alot on a team that is awful and does not even look like they belong, then maybe its time to take them out.

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ASwaffAll-American

733 days ago

Score 0

I agree, if you're playing against an awful team. That's why I said in the beginning that it depends on who you're playing. Cpcp just said that you can pull the starters if you have a 21 point lead against ANYONE. My point was that there are some teams that are good enough to come back from that.

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