By Kevin Wilkeson, College Football Editor
The problem with college football is that they keep messing with our game. And by “they,” I mean the people on the rules committees who decide how the game is played. It’s bad enough that the NIL and out-of-control transfer portal have made it become more like the NFL but it’s intensified by a bunch of rules that are like those of the pros.
One of the appealing aspects of college football is that it is different from the NFL. The original rules were unique to that game and it made the game more exciting than the NFL. But that’s changed. Plus there are other ones that make no sense in how they are implemented. And so, here are my top dumb college football rules that I would like to see changed.
• The two-minute timeout. What in the world is this doing in college football? For one thing it’s hard for long-time college football fans to adjust to it but the real problem is that it takes away some late-game drama. Does a coach, out of timeouts, dare call a running play? If he has one timeout remaining, when does he use it? That’s all gone with this NFL rule. A quarterback, rushing to the line of scrimmage to get a play off under the old system, now casually strolls up to take the snap, knowing the clock will stop at the two-minute mark.
The clock not stopping after a first down. Come ON people – this is a time-honored college football tradition, one thing that really set it apart from the NFL. Now it only happens the final two minutes of the game. What’s the point of it then?! Dumb.
Running of the clock when a play goes out of bounds. I really dislike this one because it completely takes away a key strategy of the game and makes the end of close games far less dramatic. Like the first down rule, it only comes into play the last two minutes. Dumb.
Targeting calls. I’m all about player safety but the rule needs to be changed. Or at leat how it’s interpreted. Players are so fast these days it’s often impossible for them not to make some incidental “contact to the head and neck area.” If officals feel a penalty is deserved then fine, but targeting should be just that: a player intentionally targeting another player with a vicious hit.
• Roughing the passer calls. I feel the same way about roughing the passer calls, If a QB is hit late, takes a forearm or gets whacked by a reckless linemen then throw the flag. But a blitzing linebacker coming full speed who misses a sack by half a second and still flattens the quarterback should not be penalized.
The way-too-long “upon further review” reviews. This is the one that drives me nuts more than any dumb college football rule. The rules makers are doing everything to speed up the game because the games last too long yet they allow officials to take forever to make a call so all that saved time from the above dumb rules are negated. And half the time you can’t tell if they made the right call or not. Makkng things worse is that nearly every play is reviewed, slowing the game to a snails pace. Unlike the NFL, the college game relies a lot on momentum, such as the emotion of recovering a fumble, making an interception at a big moment or scoring a key touchdown. The replay reviews delete this and have become so ridiculous that fans watching on TV and especially at the game really dislike the disruptions in play.
• The double numbers on players. It’s confusing enough to keep track of the players that change teams nearly every year because of the tranfer portal and now several players on the same team have the same number. This rule needs to be changed to avoid fan confusion.
Conclusion & Solutions. Have a maximum review time of two minutes. If the officials can’t decide in that time then go with the call on the field. Limit the long targeting reviews to times when a player intentionally targets another player, not for a full-speed hit. Then get rid of all the above time-saving dumb rules and college football can once again become a little more college football.
Leave a Reply