NCAA football installs changes

If the NCAA Football Rules Committee decided to make changes last year instead of this year, we might have a different defending national champion coming into the 2006 season.

We might not have seen Texas’ Vince Young scamper into the end zone with 19 seconds left in the national championship game, putting an end to Southern California’s dynasty and propelling Young’s NFL draft status. There would not have been enough time left.

Unfortunately for Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and the Trojans, the committee’s effort to shorten the length of college football games will being in 2006.

Starting this season under rule 3-2-5-e, when a team is awarded a first down, the clock will still be stopped, but it will now start on the ready-for-play signal. This will mean the clock will be running more often than previously. The committee estimates the game will shorten by about five minutes, according to studies by several Division I-A conferences. Kansas State coach Ron Prince estimated that there will be as many as 12 fewer plays per game.

It’s no wonder Texas coach Mack Brown is not in favor of the new rule after the Young-led touchdown drive gave Texas the win in the final seconds of last year’s national championship game, seconds that might not be there this year.

“I personally would not like to see the rules be put in at the end of the half and the end of the game because so many times the college game to me has been more exciting than the pro game because you have time to change a ballgame with a minute left or with 15 seconds or 32 seconds left in a game,” Brown said. “I think we’re limiting the ability of a team to have a last-second comeback when we’re running the clock all the time.”

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel isn’t worried that the rule changes will affect who wins or loses, even though the Tigers offense uses as many plays in a game as any other offense in the country.

“Our offense is such that we led the nation last year in the most plays per game,” Pinkel said. “I would suggest that if we execute, we might be close to that again this year. But I don’t see it making a big difference in the tempo of the game. I think it’s more of a TV framework.”

In another attempt to shorten the game, the game clock will now start when the ball is kicked on a kickoff. Previously, it did not start until the ball was touched by the receiving team.

Coaches’ challenges are also included in the 2006 rule changes. All Division I-A conferences, not just a select few, will now have a uniform system of replay. Last year replays existed in the Big 12 Conference and started only in the press box and replay booth. Under new guidelines, all coaches will receive the ability to challenge one play per game this season.

The system will be somewhat similar to the NFL’s. A team is required to call a timeout in order to challenge the play. If the play stands, the coach will lose the timeout. If the play is reversed, he will get the timeout back. Unlike the NFL, however, every play will still be under review by the replay official and his crew in the press box.

“I’ve been an advocate of replay ever since I’ve been in college football,” said Nebraska coach Bill Callahan, who has experience with coaches’ challenges in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders. “I think it’s great the coaches get a challenge. We still have total usage of the press box replay and review, so from that aspect, I think it’s going to be a nice change. I think college coaches will like to have the challenge.”

The addition of coaches’ challenges seemingly combats the NCAA’s effort to shorten the game, but not to the same degree as the NFL. The rules committee estimates that the overall game is increased by just two minutes.

“The most important thing,” Pinkel said, “is we’re seeing that No. 1, officials do a really good job — and I can’t believe I’m saying that — and secondly, if there is a mistake or it’s such a close call that you have to review it on tape, we’re getting the right decision for the game to come out the right way. And that’s all we want.”