New clock rules are set to come to college football this fall
It’s always a challenge keeping up with new rules that are put in place each college football offseason. Some have bigger impacts on the games than others (think kickoffs and targeting), while others are hardly noticeable.
Well, there’s another doozy that looks like it’s coming to college football this fall and it has to do with the clock. The Playing Rules Oversight Panel is set to approve three clock rules that will have a potentially significant impact on clock management according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.
The clock will no longer stop after first downs, except with under two minutes left in the half. As most know, the clock has always stopped after every first down to reset the chains.
Teams will be unable to call consecutive timeouts. That means no more icing the kicker with three-straight timeouts, or waiting to see how a team lines up and calling another.
Penalties that occur at the end of the first and third quarters will carry over into the next quarter rather than incurring an untimed down.
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Breaking: For the first time since 1968 clocks will no longer stop on first down in NCAA games. PROP approves rules changes for all except — surprisingly — Division III, which pushed back. https://t.co/fcTBTaw42u
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) April 21, 2023
At some point, you have to wonder when we’ll stop tweaking all of the clock rules, but it’s all to help speed up the game and more aligns with what the NFL does today. With these rules, you can almost bet on the games ending a little more quickly and the number of plays in a game diminishing a little bit.
I get it, but I don’t think I’ve ever said to myself, “Boy, I sure wish this college football game that I love so much would end sooner.” But hey, fewer plays and a speedier game probably means fewer injuries and all of that, so I guess it’s a fine balancing act.
Nonetheless, it looks like this is going to happen, so brace yourself now. We didn’t write the memo, we’re just reading it and informing you.
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