NCAA Football Rules Committee Addresses Clock, Safety Issues

Spurrier Says New Clock Procedures Favor Teams Running No-Huddle Offense

The NCAA Football Rules Committee yesterday "continued their efforts to shorten the length of games, tinkering a third consecutive year with clock-management procedures and a second year with kickoffs," according to Steve Wieberg of USA TODAY. The committee also focused on safety, banning "horse collar" tackles and "cracking down on top-of-the-helmet hits and simultaneous high-low chop blocks." SEC Coordinator of Officials, and incoming Secretary-Editor for the committee, Rogers Redding said, "It's going to be much easier to officiate, and it's going to be much better understood by the coaches and the players what they're not allowed to do." The clock management changes include adopting the NFL's 40-second play clock, which starts immediately after the previous play is whistled dead, and restarting the clock when the ball is set rather than on the snap after the previous play ends out of bounds, except for in the final 2 minutes of each half. The moves "will take effect next season" if approved by an oversight panel at a meeting next month (USA TODAY, 2/14). South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier said, "If the NFL boys are doing it, we seem to want to do it, too. I think it favors the teams that run the no-huddle. That gives the quarterback a bunch more time to stand up there and read the defense" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/14). Safety-oriented proposals also would "put restrictions on helmet-first tackling and targeting of defenseless players." NCAA Associate Dir for Playing Rules Administration Ty Halpin said, "The main thing that the committee looked at was safety" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 2/14). Redding said, "Specifically, the committee is addressing players that use the crown of their helmet and players that target defenseless opponents when making contact above the shoulders" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 2/14).