Yet another testament to this year's team

by Gamecock'n'Balls on Nov 18, 2025 3:54 PM EST

As linked by Chris Low on ESPN.com, AL.com released a list of teams with the most personal fouls. Tops? Southern Miss, with 27.

But more importantly to us, a supplementary list was provided that shows the number of personal fouls among BCS teams. Have a look:

How Teams in Current BCS Standings Rank

Oregon, 21
Auburn, 20
Florida State, 19
Oklahoma State, 19
Nebraska, 18
Michigan State, 17
Missouri, 17
Texas A&M, 17
Boise State, 16
Oklahoma, 15
Arkansas, 14
Miami, 14
LSU, 12
Mississippi State, 12
Virginia Tech, 12
Alabama, 11
Nevada, 11
Ohio State, 11
Arizona, 10
Stanford, 10
TCU, 10
Wisconsin, 10
Utah, 9
Iowa, 6
South Carolina, 5

AL.com goes on to point out that 4 is the least amount any team has committed. One of the most infuriating things is seeing a first down or defensive stop wiped out by a late hit or some other needless PF penalty. But it hasn't been a problem for our squad. It's a testament to our coaching and to the intelligence and maturity of our players.

Anyone care to play devil's advocate? Granted, overall there seems to be a vague inverse relationship between position in BCS top 25 rankings and PFs committed, but it could be coincidental.

At any rate, stupid penalties are absolutely crippling, and we're doing a good job of avoiding them. Our boys should be lauded for that.

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Comments

It’s hard to get a late hit out of bounds when the other team’s offense is either stuffed at the line, or goes up top for a touchdown. I kid, sort of.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Nov 18, 2025 5:35 PM EST reply actions

Bumped.

That’s a very interesting stat. I agree that it’s a testament to our team, which I do believe is very disciplined. The fact that the teams with the most personal fouls are generally highly ranked is interesting, though. If I had time, I’d be curious to know what those PFs are generally for. Are they mostly late hits or facemasks, which are often have devastating consequences for a team, or are they for something else? I kind of wonder if most of them for high-scoring teams like Oregon, Auburn, and Oklahoma St. are excessive celebration penalties, which don’t really hurt as much because they usually come after seven points and generally mean the other team gets slightly better field position after the ensuing kickoff. That might explain why those teams have so many PFs yet are still successful.

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by Gamecock Man on Nov 18, 2025 7:13 PM EST reply actions

is excessive celebrations

termed a personal foul?

by Gamecockrock on Nov 18, 2025 10:02 PM EST up reply actions

Pretty sure it falls under the "unsportsmanlike conduct" umbrella.

Not sure if that makes it specifically a personal foul, but it functions like one since it’s a 15-yard penalty.

by RumblinFish on Nov 19, 2025 12:45 AM EST up reply actions

Great observation.

I think we’re one of the least-penalized teams in the SEC too, which is a far cry from where we’ve been in previous years. It used to feel like we were getting a delay of game or false start every other play. Now that our offense is finally running as it should, we’ve eliminated so many of those mental errors.

by RumblinFish on Nov 19, 2025 12:48 AM EST reply actions