Wild Card Substitutions and the Small College Rebellion

College football adopted free substitution in 1941 due to concerns about roster sizes as the U.S. geared up for World War II. Despite the rule change, two-platoon football did not arrive until 1945, when Michigan implemented the practice against Army. Platooning gained popularity in the late 1940s, but college football's rule-makers rejected the two-platoon system in 1953 when they reimposed restrictions on player substitution.

Porsche's longtime slogan, “There is no substitute,” applied to old-time football. (Porsche Cars North America)

The limited substitution rule had philosophical and financial justifications. The philosophical side argued that players should participate on both offense and defense to develop well-rounded players rather than specialists.

On the financial side, the early 1950s saw numerous schools drop football, in part because the two-platoon system required larger rosters, higher equipment and travel costs, and more coaches. The NCAA justified the rule change as benefiting small colleges since they could least afford the expenses of two-platoon football. That justification was both true and false, depending on how you defined small colleges.

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