TanksAndSpartans wrote:Here’s a hypothetical. Take the 1917 Detroit Heralds v. Buffalo game. I think Sacksteder had 4 TDs. We don’t know the stats although you may have them, but let's assume no one knows. What if he rushed for say 280 yards and had another 200 in return yards and throw in a couple completions and a couple receptions? We’d throw the game out as a "weak opponent", right? But we don’t throw out Sanders’ games against or I really want to stop picking on Spec, so I will use Hugh McElhenny against the ’52 Texans instead - I have footage of him running all over that 1-11 team. Its probably a moot point because the mismatch games are usually the ones we have the least detail on anyway, but I wanted to get your view.
Well, I tend to do just what you've described: I generally discount the major teams' games against teams like the Toledo Navy or the Altoona Pros or anybody they beat by scores like 52-0. (The only exception I can think of at the moment is 1917 games against the Columbus Panhandles, who lost several games by ridiculous scores but were recognized as a "major" team and just had a very subpar squad that year.)
You raise a good point, though: Why discount a 41-0 win over Altoona when we do count the 1921 game in which somebody -- Buffalo, maybe -- beat that Tonawanda team by about 45-0? Same goes for Muncie's 45-0 loss (to Rock Island or somebody) in 1920. Now I'm wondering if I should go back and try to revise the scoring records -- which are all that usually exist -- for all those blowouts in the teens.