The Senior Bowl
The Senior Bowl
Hello, football fans! It’s almost the end of January and you know what that means; No, it’s not the week that you give up on your new year’s resolutions (although, yes it probably is). It’s the College Football Senior Bowl! (Cue the confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling). What is the Senior Bowl you ask, well, it’s the (mostly) exhibition game played between the top college football seniors in the country.
Teams are comprised of players in their senior year from schools in the North half of the country, or the South. This game has been played the week before the Super Bowl every year since 1950. The first-ever Senior Bowl was played in Jacksonville, Florida, but has since moved to Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. This game has been a showcase for the top seniors in the country and has helped raise the draft stock of many players since its inception.
The Rules
The first rule of the Senior Bowl is, you do not talk about the senior bowl. Okay, that’s not true; but who doesn’t love a good Fight Club reference? This game plays out like a typical football game, with a few changes. First, there’s a good chance that the best players at skill positions will be rotated in and out. (Last year Baker Mayfield played two drives). This gives different players a good chance to show off their skills in a highly publicized platform; especially players from smaller or generally less competitive conferences.
A slight tweak to your average game, play resets at the end of each quarter. One team receives the opening kickoff, and the other team starts at their own 25-yard line to open the second quarter. In the second half, starting possession is reversed. Each quarter is 15 minutes, with a two-minute warning. Each team is given two timeouts per quarter. One big change in this game is that there are no reviewable plays, which might remind viewers what referees are paid to do again.
As far as offensive changes to the game, the biggest tweaks are that short yardage packages and blocks below the knee are prohibited. So if you were hoping to see a fullback blow out a linebacker’s knees on the goal line, keep waiting for the XFL to come back.
Defensively sub packages such as dime or short yardage packages are also prohibited. The personnel on defense is mainly a 3-4 or 4-3 set, however a nickel package can be used when there are three wide receivers on offense. One major difference on defense is that only 4 pass rushers may go after the quarterback on a single play. Nobody wants to see Tom Brady’s future backup get injured, right?
Let’s not forget about special teams, which also sees a difference for this game. Fake punts and fake kicks are prohibited. I know this is a huge bummer for Austin Seibert fans, but that’s what the NFL preseason is for.
There are a few other technical changes to the rules of the game, but these are the most apparent. Understanding the basic rule changes will keep fans from screaming at their TVs for the coach to throw the challenge flag (probably).
Notable Senior Bowl Alumni
Because this game is an invite-only contest and reserved for the top senior prospects in the nation, there are over five hundred alumni of the Senior Bowl playing in the NFL right now. While they all may not be stars of the league, there are several standout players who gained notoriety through this game.
For example:
Phillip Rivers, 2004
Clay Matthews III, 2009
Andy Dalton, 2011
Von Miller, 2011
Russel Wilson, 2012
Josh Norman, 2012
Aaron Donald, 2014
David Johnson, 2015
Carson Wentz, 2016
Baker Mayfield, 2018
Over the Last Five Years
Individually it is important for players to perform well on such a big stage, but for each team, there are bragging rights at stake. The South has won the game in four out of the past five years, with the North winning in 2015 led by current Detroit Lion Ameer Abdullah. While the record has been lopsided in recent history, it is still an exciting first look at the future of football.
Where Can We See the Game?
The Senior Bowl will be broadcast on Saturday, January 26th on the NFL network at 1:30 PM. Or of course, you can hop on a plane and view the game in person in Mobile, Alabama. However you choose to see it, I can’t wait to argue about the draft with you.
-By: Nick Selko