South Carolina Football: Could NCAA Rule Changes Be Incoming?

The South Carolina football program is on a clear upswing headed into 2023, as Head Coach Shane Beamer and his team are climbing their way up the SEC mountain, moving higher in the standings each of the last three years. However, the way the Gamecocks and the rest of the country will have to play the game could be changing soon. NCAA football executives are at the recommendation stage with four clock-related proposals. Each proposal is expected to lessen the length of games by reducing the total number of plays in each game for the purpose of injury prevention and broadcast time reduction. If all of these rule change proposals are accepted, games could be shortened by anywhere from five to twenty total plays.

The Non-Controversial

1. Consecutive timeouts would no longer be allowed. Barring injuries, equipment issues, or other non-strategy-related stoppages, teams will no longer be able to take two straight timeouts. This would not affect the game much other than shortening the end of halves as teams look to ice kickers.
2.  Currently, if a defensive penalty occurs during the last play of a quarter, the offense is awarded an untimed down as part of the previous quarter when they accept the penalty. This proposal would eliminate that untimed down at the end of the first and third quarters with officials, instead, assessing the penalty at the beginning of the following period.

The Up-For-Debate

1. College football has historically had different rules concerning the clock after first downs. The rule has changed over the years, but NCAA football executives are proposing a new rule that would keep the clock running after first downs just like in the NFL. The clock would begin to stop after a first down conversion during the last two minutes of each half.
2. An extremely controversial rule change could be coming, as well. The NCAA football executives are also proposing that officials restart the game clock after incomplete passes once the ball is spotted for play, just like the current rules regarding when a runner goes out of bounds or converts a first down.

These rule changes (other than the final proposal) would bring the college game more in line with the rules of the NFL. If ratified, these changes could be put in place as soon as the 2023 football season, but the decision-makers behind these proposals are not yet close to a final verdict.

The SEC Spring Meetings are usually held in May or June and could be a potential deadline for the decision on these proposals. SEC Media Days in July likely would be the last possible announcement time. One potential hold-up to the NCAA coming to a conclusion on these issues could be the installation of new NCAA President Charlie Baker in March to replace maligned outgoing president Mark Emmert.