If you missed it, Oregon allegedly purposefully put 12 men on the field when tOSU had the ball with 10 seconds to go. With 12 men on the field, they could better defend tOSU. In CFB, that penalty is not a dead-ball foul like it is in the NFL. You could see a scenario where a team has 40 seconds to go and the ball on their 50 yard line, needing 4-8 points to win or tie. The defending team could put 12-14 or more players on the field. The play would be run and defended 99% of the time. Each play would take about 5 seconds off the clock. 40 seconds, 5 seconds per play, 8 five-yard penalties, the game ends on the 10 yard line. Now, that's cutting it close because the game can't end on a penalty, so more likely this scenario is used like Oregon did, or if the ball is on the 20 meaning the last play would be a hail mary.
In any event, in what may be the fastest rule change in NCAA history, you can't do that any more.
Never mind. The rule has been changed:
This did not seem like the utterance of a coach who thought his team had brilliantly exploited a loophole in the rules to deprive Ohio State of precious seconds at the end of the game. And it makes me think that the Ducks were more lucky than intentional in taking a penalty that helped win that game—a penalty that has led to a hurry-up rule change in college football.
The change—excuse me, “rules interpretation”—was announced by the NCAA Wednesday:
“After the two-minute timeout in either half, if the defense commits a substitution foul and 12 or more players are on the field and participate in a down, officials will penalize the defense for the foul and, at the option of the offended team, reset the game clock back to the time displayed at the snap.
“The game clock will then restart on the next snap. If the 12th defender was attempting to exit but was still on the field at the snap and had no influence on the play, then the normal substitution penalty of 5 yards would be enforced with no clock adjustment.”
In any event, in what may be the fastest rule change in NCAA history, you can't do that any more.
Never mind. The rule has been changed:
This did not seem like the utterance of a coach who thought his team had brilliantly exploited a loophole in the rules to deprive Ohio State of precious seconds at the end of the game. And it makes me think that the Ducks were more lucky than intentional in taking a penalty that helped win that game—a penalty that has led to a hurry-up rule change in college football.
The change—excuse me, “rules interpretation”—was announced by the NCAA Wednesday:
“After the two-minute timeout in either half, if the defense commits a substitution foul and 12 or more players are on the field and participate in a down, officials will penalize the defense for the foul and, at the option of the offended team, reset the game clock back to the time displayed at the snap.
“The game clock will then restart on the next snap. If the 12th defender was attempting to exit but was still on the field at the snap and had no influence on the play, then the normal substitution penalty of 5 yards would be enforced with no clock adjustment.”
