[BluegrassBuckeye]

I had a Coach tell me once when I ask, why run up the score. He said and I quote," they can get better or drop football. They will remember what we did and lose hope."

To me, running up the score means keeping your starters in late in a game AND using every play in the book to score points when the game is no longer in doubt. That said, if a coach puts his second and third team in the game and continues to run his normal offense (regardless of what that offense is) he is doing right by his team and that does not constitute running up the score.