NCAA pushing change to 12-men penalty this week after Oregon used intentionally

Days after Dan Lanning and Oregon took advantage of a college football rule loophole, the NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee is actively engaged in making an in-season action. The Ducks sent 12 defenders onto the field with 10 seconds remaining against Ohio State on a third-down play. The Buckeyes threw an incomplete pass as Oregon was penalized, with four seconds running off the clock.

NCAA rules currently do not require the clock to be reset after a 12-men penalty is called. The NCAA is now evaluating in-season action after the controversial call impacted Oregon’s win over Ohio State. Changes would likely direct officials to return the game clock to the original time.

Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday the NCAA was evaluating the situation. A source confirmed the news to On3 and said the plan is to have the change done this week. The Big Ten crew officiating the game did handle the play correctly, a source said.

“We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations and some situations don’t come up very often in college football, but this was obviously something we had worked on,” Lanning said Monday night about the 12-men penalty. “You can see the result.”

Previously, the rules committee has responded to incidents like Saturday’s with interpretation bulletins released mid-season. The bulletins are meant to direct officials on how to judge the call moving forward. Changes are meant to dissuade coaches from exploiting the penalties or rules further.

A formal rule change can only be made in the off-season process.

With only six seconds left after the 12-men penalty, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard scrambled out of the pocket and slid too late for the Buckeyes to call a timeout. Oregon escaped with the win, moving up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25.