2008-2009 Rule Changes

ASimPerson

ASimPerson

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http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/02/13/ncaaburst_0213.html

Here's a summary:
  • The NCAA is adopting NFL-like timing rules. Specifically, the college game will now use a 40-second play clock that starts at the end of the previous play. Also, if a player runs out of bounds, the clock will continue to run, except in the last two minutes of the half.
  • If a coach's challenge is correct, the coach gets another challenge.
  • If a kickoff goes out of bounds, the receiving team can take the ball at its own 40 instead of the 35.
  • There is no longer a 5-yard face mask penalty. All face mask penalties are now 15-yards.
  • Officials can assess as a penalty if coaches or players are inappropriately on the field, instead of assessing a warning first.
The AJC article leaves some items out, but I'll work on finding the actual rules to clarify this. Specifically, does the clock still stop to move the chains? What if a player is tackled out of bounds?
 
If that's indeed the case with the timing change, that's just plain stupid. Games are already short enough. I'd love to see the rationale behind this move.
 
Unsurprisingly, the AJC article failed to mention that these are not actually in effect yet and are just proposals. Here's the actual NCAA press release [link].

Things not mentioned in the AJC article include:
  • A penalty for horse-collar tackles
  • Clarifications and additions to the helmet-to-helmet contact rule
  • Clarification of the rule on chop blocks
  • Like the NFL clock, the play clock will be 25 seconds if coming out of an administrative time out or after a change of possession.
  • The NCAA article says the clock will start "on a signal from the referee" if a player runs out of bounds. Presumably, this means when the ball is marked ready for play, which is different than the NFL rule.
  • Plays where a loose ball was immediately recovered but the play was blown dead may now be reviewed.
Again, these are proposals and are not yet in effect. Actual wording of the rules probably won't be available until after they're approved, if I had to guess.
 
Allen Koholic said:
If that's indeed the case with the timing change, that's just plain stupid. Games are already short enough. I'd love to see the rationale behind this move.
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Longer commercials.

I'm not so sure about the 'all facemasks are 15 yards' change, but we'll see how it plays out.
 
beej67 said:
I'm not so sure about the 'all facemasks are 15 yards' change, but we'll see how it plays out.
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Yeah, on one hand, I'm all in favor of reducing the number of judgment calls officials have to make. On the other, there are plenty of situations where a purely accidental face mask violation occurs and the offending player removes his hand from the mask immediately.

That said, I wonder how often the 5-yard penalty was even called last year. Doesn't seem like much.

Part of me also wonders how many officials will just hold on to their flags if they see a purely accidental face mask so they avoid assessing the 15-yard penalty.
 
This is the only one I like:

Plays where a loose ball was immediately recovered but the play was blown dead may now be reviewed.
 
Why does the NCAA continue to copy the NFL when it has a much better product than the NFL? Why lengthen the play clock? All that will do is shorten the game while making teams run fewer plays. Awesome!
 
Because the NFL rules are much better than the college rules, and the NFL officials are much better than the college officials.
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Why are the NFL rules better, and which ones specifically in your opinion?

NFL refs are definitely better than College refs, but the new rules don't change that.
 
Ish said:
Why does the NCAA continue to copy the NFL when it has a much better product than the NFL? Why lengthen the play clock? All that will do is shorten the game while making teams run fewer plays. Awesome!
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The play clock isn't actually getting longer.

Right now, when a play is blown dead, the 25-second play clock starts when the officials mark the ball ready for play (i.e., when the ref retreats to the backfield, blows his whistle, and the umpire stops standing over the ball). The thing is, it usually takes awhile - possibly longer than 15 seconds - for the ball to be marked ready for play. The vast majority of the time the offense is already in its huddle while the officials are spotting the ball.

So, now, regardless of how fast or how slow officials are at marking the ball, the play clock will run. If anything, teams may actually be able to run more plays because officials should be marking the ball ready to play as soon as they can since the play clock is already running. The payoff for the NCAA and overall length of the game is that there's consistency across the board instead of a variable dead time where everyone is milling about before the play clock starts.
 
Any word on what CPJ thinks about the proposals?? What about the chop blocks specifically on the line away from the ball?
 
Why are the NFL rules better, and which ones specifically in your opinion?
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The clock rules are better. Two feet inbounds is better. Selling beer at the games is better. Replay challenge is better. Pass interference is better.

I don't like the 2 min warning, particularly, but the NFL overall has better rules.
 
Why does this committee insist on changing the damn rules all the time? It's like they have to justify their existence by inanely changing rules every season.
 
Ish said:
Why does the NCAA continue to copy the NFL when it has a much better product than the NFL? Why lengthen the play clock? All that will do is shorten the game while making teams run fewer plays. Awesome!
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Because the NFL is a much better product, according to most of the country. Maybe the next thing they will do is look at the NFL's immensely popular method for determining a champion.
 
gth816f said:
Because the NFL is a much better product, according to most of the country. Maybe the next thing they will do is look at the NFL's immensely popular method for determining a champion.
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The NFL is boring, straight-up.
 
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