Report: College Football executives considering rule changes to shorten games

According to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, College Football could be making some changes to shorten the length of games. He reported Monday that CFB executives are reviewing four different rules that would cut into the total length of a game and the total number of downs played.

“Executives of the sport are moving closer to recommending several clock rule changes meant to reduce plays for both safety and game length reasons, multiple officials tell Sports Illustrated,” wrote Dellenger.

He then outlined the four rules, two of which are fairly minor, while the other two would make a large impact on how long games last:

“High-ranking college football leaders have been reviewing four specific changes to clock rules, two of which are considered non-controversial, one that has garnered wide support and a fourth that has left some divided.

“The non-controversial proposals include (1) prohibiting consecutive timeouts (ie, icing kickers) and (2) no longer extending a first or third quarter for an untimed down if the quarter ends on a defensive penalty (the down would be clocked starting the next quarter).

“In a third proposal that is garnering wide support, the clock will continue to run after an offense gains a first down except inside of two minutes in a half. In a more controversial fourth proposal, the clock will continue to run after an incomplete pass once the ball is spotted for play.”

That third proposal is the big one, considering it’s a rule that already exists in the NFL and reportedly has support. A big part of why college football games traditionally last much longer than NFL games is due to the first down rule.

In the NFL, the clock continues to run after first downs, meanwhile, a first down stops the college clock until the ball is placed. Most games feature 20+ first downs, so that’s a huge number of stoppages that would be eliminated by such a change.

The last alteration is a bit more exotic since incomplete passes have always stopped the clock in college football. However, the rules would mean the clock still stops on incompletions but would restart upon ball placement rather than restarting on the actual snap.

Removing those stoppages would be another massive step in cutting back on game time. Though, per Dellenger, decision-makers are not all on that particular change. But even getting those first three changes would drastically alter game length and likely limit games that go four or more hours. College football fans know that those sort of contests are far too common as is.

So, could be some major changes coming to clock-keeping in college football.