Rivals has an interesting story out of Florida: Naples 91, Estero 0.
"Hey," offered Estero defensive line coach Pat Hayes after the one-sided affair, "I didn't even know 91 was a multiple of seven."
We've seen several blowouts this season, though nothing quite like this. It speaks to a larger issue: What's the etiquette in these situations?
Geez...I sure hope this was a homecoming game for Naples. I would love to see the box score for this game, because that may be telling as to if Naples "ran up" the score. Another issue is what kind of plays they called late in the game, which we may never know.
There are several philosophies as to what the proper ettiquite is in these kinds of situations. The two most common are (a) to keep playing the game as if it's zero-zero because it's clear the other team can't stop you or (b) to show class and sportsmanship by bringing in second string players and running out the clock on your offensive possessions. To me, you should utilize both philosophies. Keep playing hard, but run the ball every play, and don't pass in situations when you've already demolished the other team. If they can't stop your running game, fine, they can't say that you were running up the score because it's their fault they couldn't stop you and running the ball runs out the clock. If Naples carried out their game in this way, I don't see a problem with it. But something tells me that if you score 91, chances are you were probably going for 100.