The NCAA is considering a few notable rule changes to college football this offseason in an effort to make the game move faster with fewer stoppages to the clock. But according to Steve Shaw, who serves as the secretary/editor of the NCAA’s rules committee, the changes are going to be so minor fans might not even notice.
The NCAA is proposing three changes this fall: banning teams from taking consecutive timeouts, the elimination of untimed downs following a penalty at the end of half or quarter, and keeping the clock running on a first down conversion outside of the last two minutes.
Shaw estimates that this might shorten the average college football game by about seven plays. And he doesn’t think most college football fans will even notice.
“You may not even notice it in a game,” Shaw said, according to On3. “Over a season, it may make a difference.”
With the popularization of the hurry-up offense, college football teams are running more plays now than they ever have before. That’s part of the reason for the rules change.
“There’s no question that there are more plays now,” Shaw said.
The new rules will go into effect this season if they’re approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee at its meeting on April 20.
[On3]
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