Feedback wanted on this question please

Along with what CS said depends on opponent/style of game but

1) within 2 possessions at the end would be close so 16 if you can get 2 pt conversions
2) three scores so 17+
3) anything with a running clock, for our state I think its 40 in the second half

Can I be nosy? Just curious as to the origin of the question ha

Dude just answer a general question without turning it into a theoretical debate. There are no absolutes in football....we get it

this sounds like some crazy graduate school paper but anyway to answer your questions:

What point differential do you consider an interscholastic football game:

1] as being close or competitive? within 14 points or less

2] as a team having a safe/comfortable lead? anything more than a 3 score game

3] as a "blowout? 30 points or more. Some coaches will say when the running clock rule kicks in

1) close is within 2 scores. Competitive is less about score and more about how the game went. We have played games where the end score was 2+ scores but we were in it all game long but fell apart in the last few minutes. 

2) Depends on the team you play. 

3) 50pts by 1/2 time that is over 

I appreciate the replies, everyone. I pose the question because there is some debate in circles where this discussion occurs and it seems to frequently go in 2 directions: a) the game is over and was it close, was it a comfortable lead "where I could play my reserves," or it was a runaway. OR, it was too close to play reserves at any point, I wasn't 21-28 points ahead so "they had a chance to catch us," or "we were 42 points ahead and it was a runaway" (for example). So I was interested in other viewpoints. I am still interested in more perspectives.

1. Within two scores- 14-16 pts
2. Depends on team played. Some games I knew if we got up by 17 it was over because we could milk clock, some I was still nervous up 28.
3. Anything where the clock is running. +40pts in Illinois.

I will spot sub if we are up 3 or more until the game is for sure over (blowout/not a lot of time)then I will mass sub. Or if my 2s can handle your 1s then they will get the 2nd half because we are probably beating that a$$ by then

1.) Usually 14 points but have seen 14 point blow outs and have also seen 21-28 that were competitive but something weird happened at the end and a couple of scores were added on

2.) Safe/Comfortable lead is the most debatable in my opinion. We were beating a team one year 28-7 at half time. They got the ball and on the first play we stripped it and scored on defense. We are up 35-7. Everyone thought the game was over. They tied it up with 4 minutes to play and we went three and out after that. They had a chance to win it on their final drive but we forced a fumble on the goal line. So we got to over time 35-35 and having barely survived. It's a happy ending because our RB was a stud and scored on the first play of the extra period and we stopped them. But leads are pretty fragile sometimes.

That being said the only disagreement I have had with our head coach was when I put in a kid when we were up two scores with 2 minutes to go and he said not to. We had a shut out so I wasn't really concerned, but he felt they had the talent so he wanted our best players in.

This certainly isn't a science.


3. Once the whistle has sounded I think anything 3 scores or higher is a blowout.

3-8
17-21
35+

I understood what Carookie was saying also. What I’m saying is that threads like these are the Seinfeld of the forum. You don’t have to over think them just answer.

Generally speaking, the theme on this thread is within 2 possessions it’s close, 3 possession lead is comfy, and 4 or more is a blowout

Now if I’m up 2 possessions with 25 sec left I’m feeling pretty comfortable. We all get there are factors that influence these answers.

to me the 2 score rule is great to go by. While I agree offenses do tend to be quicker scoring these days, in game I feel like I am still in the game as long as I am within 2 scores. I feel more comfy when I get the game outside of 2 scores. As far as blow outs go ... more than 4 scores is a blowout IMHO

To your point. I will pull my starters in the 1st quarter on offense if we score 35 points in the 1st quarter, defense stays in. If we hit 50 points in the 2nd quarter, I will pull the offense.
I will pull all the starters in the 3rd quarter if the lead is bigger than 35, either way. But if that lead drops to 28, the starters go back in.  In the 4th quarter I will pull the starters if the lead is 28.

What I tell the players who are starters is that we do this for two reasons.

1) to protect them from injury and keep them fresh for the next game.
2) to reward the guys who helped them practice to be able to be this good.(and if we are getting blown out its because I need to find out who else can play)

Big problem I run into is that when I sub, others do not.  When my 2s and 3s are in, the other coach is trying to get some stats for his starters.  Seen many a shut out ruined because of this.  I used to get my feelings hurt about that, but then I grew up and now we make it a point that the starters all need to be coaching their back ups to preserve the shut out.