As human beings, we require rest for ourselves which ties into the football-winning game hangover. This need often can be felt after a long day at the office in front of the computer. The last thing we want is to come home and stare at a computer screen again in that scenario. Our minds want a break, just like our bodies need a break after prolonged physical exertion. The game of football, as one high school coach I know likes to describe as a “collision sport, not a contact sport like the others, he would say.”

Physical Toll of the Game

Football players take a physical pounding at each game. A good coach knows how to balance the pounding his players take during the game with how much physical tackling the team will do in practice. You need to do more to avoid the toughness of the squad never getting established. However, you do too much and risk wearing guys down to the point of injury. Regardless, there are only so many plays a player can go 100% on every play. The better condition the player is in, the longer he can go.

Mental Toll of the Game

Physical conditioning, however, must be met with mental training as well. Players and the team must be able to want to give it their all, even when the odds seem insurmountable. If they give in, count themselves out, or become mentally tired, they open themselves up to the old cliché of ‘we beat ourselves.’ Because of the day-in and day-out grind of practicing and preparing week to week for football games, it is normal for teams to become mentally exhausted. If enough guys on the team start to feel this way, it can be osmotically felt throughout the locker room.

Overcoming Exhaustion

This mental exhaustion can lead to teams losing to inferior opponents or barely skating by lesser teams. Great coaches always try to establish a winning culture in the offseason to overcome this tendency. Preparation falls on the strength coaches during the summer for college football programs. Even with all that said, every great team has moments when they lay an egg. However, the sign of a great team is overcoming the dreaded mental hangover of exhaustion.

Take Michigan, for example, in week 12 in 2022. That week, they played Illinois at home in frigid conditions. Their star tailback, Blake Corum, left the game with an injury. Up to that point in the season, they had been blowing teams out, winning by an average of 30 points per game. The defense was the strength of the Illinois team and gave Michigan fits.

Michigan’s Challenge

Michigan had to overcome the fact that their starting tailback got injured, averaging 6ypc, and Donovan Edwards was also out with injury. Requiring the Michigan QB JJ McCarthy to step up with the WRs in cold weather. The critical injuries, the cold 11-degree wind chill, and the Illinois Defense all combined, throwing Michigan into a tailspin at home. In a game favored to win by 18, they only won by two on a field goal.

Undefeated

One hundred thirty-one teams played Division I college football last season in 2022. All of these teams lost a game at some point except for Georgia, who went wire-to-wire undefeated. The better the team is, the longer the win streaks they will accumulate into the season. Many young teams with new players but with an accomplished coach may falter early with a competitive game in the season against a solid opponent. However, if they can get a win or two in the next couple of games, they tend to build momentum and can carry that for a 4, 5, or 6-game stretch.

After about 4 or 5 wins, even these good teams get mentally and physically exhausted and will usually lay an egg against the spread. Which is, in essence, against their expectations of how well they should play. Explaining why good teams sometimes play flat as they enter late October and early November. We get to these weeks every year, and you’ll see 3 or 4 top 10 teams go down in one weekend. The mental grind starts to take hold, and it can be challenging to overcome.

Coming Off the Big Win

Often, teams coming off a big win do funny things and lose to inferior opponents. Teams can often become overconfident if they blow out a rival or have consecutive big wins. Their mental preparation may dip the next week as keeping that same mental focus is challenging, thinking they are now the big dogs on the mountain.

The Wake Forest Loss

Take Wake Forest, for example, in 2022. Wake had a veteran team with Sam Hartman as QB and started 3-0. Next, they lost to Clemson by only 6, beat Florida State by 10 the next week, and then Army by 35 in Week 6. They have a bye in week 7 and then roll Boston College by 28 in Week 8. Good teams on a roll can come into the midseason exhaustion point from weeks 8 -11, where they want to take a break and exhale.

Over Confident – Football-Winning Game Hangover

Coming off two relatively easy wins in weeks 6 and 8, they started to get overconfident and probably collectively thought they were better than they were. The following week, they go into Louisville and get shellacked, losing by 27 when favored by 4. It was such a beating that the hangover lasted the next two weeks as they lost to NC State by 9 in Week 10 and North Carolina by 2 at home in Week 11. They finished the season 7-5 before the bowl, but the loss at Louisville was a clear turning point, and they trended down after that.

 

Wake Forest 2022 Season Results

• Week 1  VMI: Won by 34
• Week 2 at Vanderbilt: Won by 20
• Week 3  Liberty: Won by 1
• Week 4  Clemson: Lost by 6, beat the spread by 1 point
• Week 5 at Florida State: Won by 10
• Week 6  Army: Won by 35
• Week 7 Bye
• Week 8  Boston College: Won by 28

Midseason Exhaustion Exhale – Football-Winning Game Hangover

• Week 9 at Louisville: Lost by 27, came in overconfident
• Week 10 at NC State: Lost by 9, bad losses carry over
• Week 11  North Carolina: Lost by 2, shaken confidence didn’t help in a close game
• Week 12  Syracuse: Won by 10
• Week 13 at Duke: Lost by 3

 

Football-Winning Game Hangover – Understanding the Trends

University Foot-Ball analyzes these trends to see if there is a play here due to a team’s potential for a letdown. Another example of University Foot-Ball working hard for you to get the extra inch. All those inches are the difference in having a winning season picking against the spread.