A college football official volunteering his time slipped into press boxes around the country last season. Unannounced and anonymous, his duties: dig into how many plays could be saved if one of the hallmark rules of the sport were altered.
The official was tasked with determining how much time could be saved by simply letting the clock run after first downs except during the last 2 minutes of each half. Clock stoppages on first down have separated college football from the NFL since 1968. It is about to become a line in the sand as the NCAA Football Rules Committee convenes its annual meeting beginning next week in Indianapolis.
A convergence of issues has compelled the game’s stakeholders to consider more seriously limiting “exposures,” the number of plays per game that athletes are on the field. The intent is not necessarily to shorten game lengths but rather protect players’ health.
A similar initiative failed last year, but as time has passed, the urgency has increased.
Forget about the structure of the game for a moment. What comes out of that meeting will determine how all of college football approaches the future from a medical liability standpoint.
“Whether it’s sickle cell or anything else, we don’t get the NCAA to do anything until they get sued, or frankly, [the media] rips them to shreds for not doing anything on it,” said Eugene Egdorf, a veteran Houston attorney who has battled the NCAA on numerous occasions.
The committee is also expected to consider allowing the clock run after incomplete passes. In either case, if the committee acts, exposures would be reduced. But at what cost?
College executives have been told the average offense would lose about seven plays per game if the clock was allowed to run after first downs. That’s less impactful than letting the clock run after incomplete passes, which projects to remove 18-20 plays from each contest, fundamentally changing the game’s structure. Especially in a sport where a record 46% of snaps were passing plays in 2022.
(Also being considered: no longer allowing consecutive timeouts to “ice” a kicker nor extending a period for untimed downs due to a defensive penalty. Both of those considerations are believed to be non-controversial.)
More than one source called the difference in exposures between NFL and college being a possible inflection point. NFL games average 155 plays per game (including…
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