ESPN’s Elle Duncan slams college football’s overtime rules: ‘Not a showcase of football’

For those of us who are sickos, Pitt-Toledo going to six overtimes is what bowl season is all about.

For others like Elle Duncan, not so much.

It’s not that Duncan doesn’t appreciate the GameAbove Sports Bowl’s record-breaking six-overtime thriller, but more about how we got there — and the flaws in the current college overtime rules.

“I absolutely despise it,” Duncan said on Friday’s First Take. “I think it absolutely sucks. First of all, because of that damn game, we had a 12-minute SportsCenter — thanks, fellas. It took longer to get ready for the show than the actual show was. I think it sucks, because we have a whole entire segment on SportsCenter, [Ryan Clark], called ‘All Three Phases,’ right? Offense, defense, special teams — that’s what football is supposed to be about.

“And the way that college does it, you automatically eliminate special teams by not doing a kickoff, so you start at the 25-yard line. Then after the double OT, you move into a two-point conversion battle, which is essentially has nothing to do with football and it’s much more — it’s whoever has the best prowess in the booth. It’s whoever has the best plays they can come up with, whatever gadgets they can come up. It has nothing to do with actual football.”

Tell us how you really feel, Elle.

And on Thursday, it looks like Toledo had the advantage upstairs, as the Rockets clung on for dear life to their 48-46 win at Ford Field in Detroit — one that Matt Schumacker was on the mic for.

“You eliminate defense. You eliminate field position,” she said. “All of the things that go into winning a game. I think it absolutely sucks — and I hate it. And at the very least, they could start by doing the same thing that the NFL does: you want both teams to get possession of the ball. I agree with college football over the NFL in that way. Kick the damn ball off! Let some of that come into play in determining that game. Let football determine who wins that game; it’s horrible watching this.

“And I understand it’s because they want the games to go quicker, then, put 10 minutes on the clock in overtime. And you play the 10 minutes, and whoever has the lead at the end, wins the frickin’ game. Just do something because this, to me, is not a showcase of football. It’s a showcase of who’s got the best play-calling ability.”

And even though Duncan is a diehard Georgia fan, we can safely assume she wasn’t thrilled by the instant classic on Black Friday, when the Bulldogs barely survived a wild eight-overtime showdown against Georgia Tech.

[First Take]