NCAA Football Rules Committee proposes changes to injury timeout rule

The NCAA Football Rules Committee proposed several rule modifications for the upcoming 2025-26 season on Friday, including ones that would govern injury timeouts and a 12th player penalty. The recommendations would not become official until approved by the NCAA Player Rules Oversite Panel, which is scheduled to meet April 16.

The most notable proposal deals with injury timeouts. It would modify a rule to make it so that if medical personnel enter the field to evaluate an injured player “after the ball is spotted by the officiating crew for the next play” a timeout would be charged to that team. If that team does not have any timeouts remaining, a delay of game penalty would be assessed.

The discussion around defenders faking injuries to stop an offense’s momentum or generate an extra timeout has been ongoing for years. This would be the first time an in-game penalty could be assessed for that. There would not be a penalty assessed if a player goes down before the ball is spotted.

Other rule recommendations:

* If a game reaches a third overtime, each team would have one timeout to use for the remainder of the game. That would be a change from the current rule, with each team receiving one timeout for every overtime period.

* When an official is announcing an instant replay decision, the referee will only say if the call is upheld or overturned. It would eliminate the use of the terms “confirmed” and “stands.”

* No player may be in the direct line between the snapper and punter on punts. And if the snapper is on the end of the line of scrimmage, he would lose scrimmage kick protection — meaning a defender could line up directly over him.

* Any player on a kickoff return team who makes a “T” signal with his arms during a kick will result in the play being whistled dead as a fair catch signal.

* The disconcerting signals penalty that has been called on defenders for simulating a snap count now has an offensive version. Offensive players cannot say the words “move” or “stem” to try to get defensive movement.

* This likely will be known as the “Dan Lanning rule” but there is a recommendation to give a stiffer penalty if a team attempts to purposely play with an extra man on the field. After the two-minute timeout in each half, if a defense has 12 men participate in the play, the offensive team can take the 5-yard penalty and, if they choose, can also reset the game block back to the time showing at the start of the play. This is only enforced if that 12th player participates in the play. Any penalty for 12 players in which that twelfth player is trying to get off the field would get the typical five-yard penalty with no time adjustment. Last season, Oregon put a 12th player on the field late in a game against Ohio State. With the Buckeyes facing a 3rd-and-25 with just 10 seconds remaining, Ohio State ran a play against 12 Oregon defenders that resulted in an incomplete pass. The Buckeyes got five yards on the penalty but lost four seconds on the clock. The next play took all six seconds remaining and Ohio State wasn’t able to try for what would have been a game-winning field goal.