South Carolina Football: NCAA official thinks fans “may not even notice” rule changes

In case you missed it, earlier this spring, news came out that the NCAA was considering four rule change proposals that would take effect immediately and impact college football as soon as the 2023 football season. Now, according to a piece by on3.com’s Ivan Maisel, NCAA Rules Committee Secretary Steve Shaw argues that the changes will be so small that fans “may not even notice” them.

The four rule changes include two minor changes and two major changes to the current way college football’s game clock is operated. The changes are expected to trim at least seven plays off of each game for the sake of “player safety.”

The first proposed change would eliminate back-to-back timeouts. This would not change much about the game except limit kicker icing. Shaw would be correct that fans likely wouldn’t notice much if this rule were adopted.

The second proposal would change the rule surrounding defensive penalties at the end of quarters. Currently, any defensive penalty at the end of a quarter results in an untimed down for the offense if the penalty is accepted. The rule change proposal seeks to eliminate this untimed down at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters and award the untimed down only at the end of halves. Again, Shaw’s assertion is fine with this rule. Most fans would never notice this one.

The third rule change is significantly bigger. The NFL and NCAA have had different rules over the years regarding the clock after first downs. The rule has changed over the years, but this new rule proposal would make it so that the clock would keep running after first downs. The clock would only stop after a first down during the last two minutes of the half. This would drastically change the game, and fans would notice. Sorry, Steve Shaw.

The fourth and final proposal seems to have been already effectively shot down. This one proposes that the clock would restart after incomplete passes once the ball is set. This one would also drastically change the way the game of college football is played and coached.

The rules will be voted upon by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee at a meeting on April 20th and would become official NCAA rules immediately.