Hurry-up offenses like the one utilized by Auburn could be penalized starting next season for playing too fast.
The NCAA Football Rules Committee has recommended a rules change barring offenses from snapping the ball until the play clock reaches 29 seconds or less in order to give defenses time to substitute within the first 10 seconds of the 40-second play clock. The only exception: the final two minutes of each half.
The rule, if approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, would allow defenses to substitute on any play. The panel is scheduled to meet March 6.
Offenses violating the rule will be penalized five yards on a delay-of-game penalty, according to the proposal announced Wednesday.
"This rules change is being made to enhance student-athlete safety by guaranteeing a small window for both teams to substitute," said Troy Calhoun, chair of the committee and Air Force's head coach. "As the average number of plays per game has increased, this issue has been discussed with greater frequency by the committee in recent years and we felt like it was time to act in the interests of protecting our student-athletes."
The NCAA has not yet provided data backing up statements concerning player safety as it relates to uptempo offenses. The NCAA declined Wednesday to say if it is based on research.
The issue was a hot topic when Arkansas coach Bret Bielema proposed rule changes that would slow down no-huddle offenses during the SEC spring meetings.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn pushed back during the spring and the summer when asked about hurry-up offenses leading to more injuries.
"When I first heard that, to be honest with you, I thought it was a joke," Malzahn said at SEC Media Days in July. "As far as healthy or safety issues, that's like saying the defense shouldn't blitz after a first down because they're a little fatigued and there's liable to be a big collision in the backfield."
News of the rule proposal spread like wildfire on the Internet and in coaching circles, including the SEC.
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze found out about the proposal from Malzahn on Wednesday afternoon.
"'I said 'Y'all are kidding me," Freeze told the Associated Press. "That's not true?'"
Washington State coach Mike Leach has his doubts the proposal will gain much traction among coaches in the coming weeks.
"First off, doubt it will pass," Leach told ESPN.com. "Second, it's ridiculous. All this tinkering is ridiculous. I think it deteriorates the game. It's always been a game of creativity and strategy. So anytime someone doesn't want to go back to drawing board or re-work their solutions to problems, they beg for a rule."
Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of officiating for the NCAA, expected a proposal to be discussed following a record-breaking year for offenses.
"One could argue tempo is safety-related since it makes the game quicker and runs more plays," Redding said in January. "But I think the issue would be -- and one of the things the committee is always interested in -- is what's the balance between offense and defense?"
Auburn averaged 73.8 plays per game, which was just above the NCAA average in 2013, and tied for the fifth-most plays in the SEC.
The two strongest voices that have, at one time, considered supporting rules changes to slow offense also coached the SEC's slowest offenses in 2013 -- Nick Saban at Alabama (65.9 plays per game) and Bielema at Arkansas (64.7).
Current rules do not guarantee defenses an opportunity to substitute unless the offense does so first. This part of the rule, however, will remain in place when the play clock starts at 25 seconds, according to the proposal.
This is a non-rules change year at the NCAA, but proposals such as this one can be made for safety reasons.
Big Muddy rancher said:Slow the game down anymore and they will call it Baseball. :roll:
Mike said:Big Muddy rancher said:Slow the game down anymore and they will call it Baseball. :roll:
Someone did research on how much playing time is in a 60 minute NCAA football game and calculated an average of 11.5 minutes of time per game between snaps and the time the whistle blows ending each play. TOTAL!!!!
That would average 5.75 minutes of actual playing time for each the offense and the defense.
Yet it takes 3.5 hours to play a game?
If this is so why is substitution such a big deal?
3 M L & C said:Mike said:Big Muddy rancher said:Slow the game down anymore and they will call it Baseball. :roll:
Someone did research on how much playing time is in a 60 minute NCAA football game and calculated an average of 11.5 minutes of time per game between snaps and the time the whistle blows ending each play. TOTAL!!!!
That would average 5.75 minutes of actual playing time for each the offense and the defense.
Yet it takes 3.5 hours to play a game?
If this is so why is substitution such a big deal?
Because the big boys on the d line don't work to much on conditioning! And 5.75 miniutes is a lot of work for them.
Mike said:3 M L & C said:Mike said:Someone did research on how much playing time is in a 60 minute NCAA football game and calculated an average of 11.5 minutes of time per game between snaps and the time the whistle blows ending each play. TOTAL!!!!
That would average 5.75 minutes of actual playing time for each the offense and the defense.
Yet it takes 3.5 hours to play a game?
If this is so why is substitution such a big deal?
Because the big boys on the d line don't work to much on conditioning! And 5.75 miniutes is a lot of work for them.
The boys on the offense are just as big and are expected to do the same amount of work.
3 M L & C said:Mike said:3 M L & C said:Because the big boys on the d line don't work to much on conditioning! And 5.75 miniutes is a lot of work for them.
The boys on the offense are just as big and are expected to do the same amount of work.
Offense is easier to play than defense. The offensive lineman know what the plays are and know what's going on before the snap. Defense always has to react. Say it's a draw for instance. A d end is rushing as hard as he can around the outside going for the qb. The o tackle just has to give him a little shove so he goes out wide and his job is done.
Mike said:3 M L & C said:Mike said:The boys on the offense are just as big and are expected to do the same amount of work.
Offense is easier to play than defense. The offensive lineman know what the plays are and know what's going on before the snap. Defense always has to react. Say it's a draw for instance. A d end is rushing as hard as he can around the outside going for the qb. The o tackle just has to give him a little shove so he goes out wide and his job is done.
But on the other hand, the offensive linemen manytimes do not know exactly who they are going to block until the play is underway. There could be a safety or linebacker blitz, both, or an appearance of either or both, on any play.
Plus, when pass blocking, the offensive player does NOT know which way the defensive player is going whether it be left or right, over, under, or through him
Seems pretty equal to me.
5.75 minutes per game? Those few minutes spread out over a 3-4 hour game? Seriously?
3 M L & C said:Mike said:3 M L & C said:Offense is easier to play than defense. The offensive lineman know what the plays are and know what's going on before the snap. Defense always has to react. Say it's a draw for instance. A d end is rushing as hard as he can around the outside going for the qb. The o tackle just has to give him a little shove so he goes out wide and his job is done.
But on the other hand, the offensive linemen manytimes do not know exactly who they are going to block until the play is underway. There could be a safety or linebacker blitz, both, or an appearance of either or both, on any play.
Plus, when pass blocking, the offensive player does NOT know which way the defensive player is going whether it be left or right, over, under, or through him
Seems pretty equal to me.
5.75 minutes per game? Those few minutes spread out over a 3-4 hour game? Seriously?
You make valled points. But the teams that run the fast paced offense don't really have traditional drop back passes that take a long time to develop . A lot of speed timing and rythem.
"The thing that's most shameful about this is it's a clear manipulation through self-interest by people who don't want to coach within the parameters where strategy and ingenuity has taken the game," Leach told SI. "So now they want to manipulate the rules, and in needing an excuse to do this, they try to hide behind player safety. It's ridiculous."
Mike said:Speed, skill, and conditioning have a place in the game too instead of just sheer size and brute strength.