Ncaa Scraps Last Year's Clock Rules

[Bryan316]

NCAA resets controversial clock rules

By TONY BARNHART

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/15/07

"In all his years sitting in Sanford Stadium, Walter Corish can't recall ever hearing a fellow Georgia fan gripe about a football game lasting too long.

But the longtime Bulldogs season-ticket holder heard plenty of complaining last fall when NCAA rules changes started cutting his favorite team's games short by a few downs.

"I thought the rules took away part of the game from the kids," Corish said, "and they darn sure took something away from the fans."

Responding to negative reaction by fans and coaches, the NCAA football rules committee on Wednesday recommended completely eliminating the controversial clock rules of 2006 and implementing a new set of time-saving measures.

Last season's rules shortened the average game by about 14 minutes, but they also eliminated about 13 plays and reduced scoring by about five points a game. Coaches overwhelmingly complained that the rules changed the structure and flow of the game too much. After reviewing the data, the committee agreed.

The new rules are designed to put those plays back into the game but still shorten the game by eliminating "a lot of standing-around time," said Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, one of two Division I-A coaches on the NCAA committee.

The most unpopular new rule last season called for the game clock to start as soon as the ball was marked ready for play after a change of possession. That rule was eliminated; the clock now won't start until after the first snap of a possession.

"What we lost was the playing opportunities for our athletes," said committee chairman Mike Clark, head coach at Virginia's Bridgewater College. "What we have done now will hopefully put more action into the game but diminish the dead time. At the same time, we plan to work at many levels to maintain the game length [we had]."

The rules changes include:

• Kickoffs will be from the 30-yard line instead of the 35. The clock won't start until the receiver touches the ball; last season it started as soon as the ball was kicked. Tuberville estimates 90 percent of kickoffs will now be returned.

"You'll find that kicking it out of the end zone will be rare, and it will add excitement to the game," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "There will be more pressure on the kick-coverage team and more pressure on the defense because the offense is going to get better field position."

• Coming out of a television timeout, the play clock for the first play of a possession will be 15 seconds instead of the normal 25.

"The teams have been standing out there for almost three minutes during a TV timeout," Tuberville said. "They don't need 25 more seconds to get to the line and run a play."

• Charged team timeouts — not TV timeouts — will be cut by 30 seconds. This will be football's version of basketball's 30-second timeout. It will allow a coach to stop the clock but without a long delay. The timeout will last 30 seconds plus the 25 seconds on the play clock.

• On kickoffs, the play clock will start once the kicker is handed the ball by the official. In the past, the kicker could take as much time as he wanted before kicking the ball. Now, he is on the clock and a violation will result in a 5-yard penalty.

"That idea actually came from the coaches," said Rogers Redding, the SEC's supervisor of officials. "They thought a lot of time was being wasted getting the guys in position to kick the ball. This will speed up that process."

• The time allowed for instant replay reviews will be capped at two minutes. This will save some time but not a lot. The average replay review last season was 1:49, according to the NCAA.

The rules committee also announced that starting in 2008, college football will go to a 40-second play clock like that now used in the NFL. The 40-second clock will start at the end of every play. College football currently uses a 25-second clock that doesn't start until the ball is put in position and declared ready for play.

All of the proposals still need to be rubber-stamped by the NCAA's playing rules oversight panel on March 12."

[FirefightnRick]

• Coming out of a television timeout, the play clock for the first play of a possession will be 15 seconds instead of the normal 25.

Holy Crap, Utah State will never enter the 4th quarter with a timeout remaining.

Glad to see ex NT physics professor Dr. Rogers Redding still going strong. It was his Southwest Conference officiating crew you see all throughout the movie "Necessary Roughness".

Rick

Edited February 15, 2007 by FirefightnRick

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

---I hated last years rules especially toward the end of the game because good teams could exploit the clock if they knew how under the old rules which created excitement. .It also seems strange to have the clock start when the ball was kicked instead of put into play by the receiving team.

--- The longest games seem to be TxTech games and teams like them that pass all the time. Incomplete--- clock stops, ---complete--- a lot of the time their receiver was able to get out of bounds then the clock stops. The longest one I have seen was between Tech and another team that threw most of the time also. Seems like it was 4 1/2 hours. many of theirs made 4:00. It likely drove TV coverage people nuts trying to get it over with and on to the next scheduled program ---and the announcers had so much more airtime to fill.

---Expect NT games to a bit longer this year.... since we will likely throw more and the clock will stop more often....well maybe not as long as that 7-OT game which I attended. I must be good luck.... LOL .... We had three wins last year and I saw two of them (the only two games I attended -- since I live 300+ miles away)

Edited February 15, 2007 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[edcollopy]

GOOD ONE RICK...NOTHING WORSE THAN A TIMEOUT AFTER A TIMEOUT.

CHARGERS DID THAT IN THEIR PLAYOFF GAME....INJURY TIMEOUT FOR THE PATRIOTS...IT LASTED ABOUT 4 MIN. PLAY RESUMED, CHARGERS CALLED TIMEOUT...COULD'VE USED IT AT THE END, THAT'S FOR SURE.

[bigrobdsp]

Glad to see ex NT physics professor Dr. Rogers Redding still going strong. It was his Southwest Conference officiating crew you see all throughout the movie "Necessary Roughness".

Rick

Then Screw him. He missed multiple Roughing the QB calls in that game against the national champion Texas Colts.

[Quoner]

Then Screw him. He missed multiple Roughing the QB calls in that game against the national champion Texas Colts.

We should start an OU-style letter writing campaign and make him live in shame and fear like that ref from the Oregon game...

[medpilot21]

Holy Crap, Utah State will never enter the 4th quarter with a timeout remaining.

".

Rick

HAHAHA... That's a quickie-shot at a coach we used to know? Pretty funny Rick. As for the rules, I like what they are going to look like this year. I especially like the kickoff from the 30. I want to see what happens when Brandon Jackson and Devin Cox get a shot at returning more kickoffs.

Sure going to miss JQ this year in the return game... Oh well, life goes on.

GMG!!!

[greenjoe]

Never in my life have I ever complained that a college game lasted too long. Now there were some times I felt like leaving, but the game length was always just right.

I am glad the NCAA is getting rid of the "clock starts when the ball is placed down" rule. Terrible rule and I'm glad it's gone.

I hate the play reviews. They're certainly not "instant" and really can kill momentum. I think if the officials are honest (and if they're not, they shouldn't be officials) that's all you need.

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