rant: 40 second play clock in college football

[OmahaCard79]

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/conte ... CID=831113

I'm going to say that I think the new play clock is a really bad and needlessly complicated rule.

So, now we've got a play clock that's going to start on the snap of the ball and count off 40 seconds until the next play has to be run. To me, this seems like a horrible idea. If you've got a long 70 yard play, that could easily take 10-15 seconds if you have a few broken tackles in the mix. Then, it's likely to take the zebra's roughly 10 seconds to get the ball spotted. By that time, the play clock will be down to 15 seconds and I could easily see teams having to take a timeout to get their play ready.

Also, it is needlessly convoluted. Does the play clock reset on a first down? There's no mention of that. However, since the game clock stops on a first down, it seems really weird to have the play clock still running. That is just stupid.

Finally, they felt the need to throw another wrinkle into this stupid idea by having the play clock not start until the snap when the half is under 2 minutes. It makes sense that it'll stop the team leading from milking the clock, but it's just another thing to confuse the fans.

Whoever comes up with these things in CFB really needs their heads examined. This is as bad as the clock starting on change of posessions a couple of years ago.

If the NCAA wants the games shorter, then don't have a commercial break every 2.5 minutes. Oh wait, this is the NCAA. That'll never happen.

[TabascoElvis]

Yeesh, hadn't heard about this cluster. Doesn't sound too well thought out.

[OmahaCard79]

I read it wrong. the clock starts when the play is down, not at the snap. I still don't like it though.

EDIT:

OK, in the last 2 minutes, it starts with the snap. So, it is kind of a cluster. weird.

[GatewaySnayke]

So wait, is it going to be like the NFL's?

[OmahaCard79]

So wait, is it going to be like the NFL's?

close, but not quite. the way i understand it is that the 40 second play clock wil start the second the previous play is blown dead.

However, with under 2 minutes left in the game, it will start on the snap of the ball. In theory, it makes it so that a team trying to kill the clock can't do it as easily I guess.

[OmahaCard79]

also, all facemask penalties are now 15 yards regardless of intent. That also seems like a bad idea to me.

[Radio_Bugtussle]

also, all facemask penalties are now 15 yards regardless of intent. That also seems like a bad idea to me.

One less way for an official to screw up.

Then there was that stuff about excessively violent hits. That's going to cause a lot of discussion-- and problems.

Seems that the best way to do business is to hit the guy with the ball as hard (and cleanly) as possible and as often as possible. The wording I see is very likely to muddy the waters.

[clevername]

I don't have a problem with the facemask thing. This was their plan all along, I think. The 5 yard business was there to give coaches time to hammer home that you can't get your hands up around the facemask when tackling even if you don't mean to grab it before the universal 15 yard penalty was instituted. Coaches have, of course, not seemed to get that point across.

This clock business doesn't sound good to me, though it will certainly make the ends of games more interesting depending on which side of the score your team may be on.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't really see the downside to the clock stuff. In the past there's always been a varying level of downtime between the play being blown dead, the ball being spotted, and the play clock being started. Now that's uniform. It also prevents teams from wasting blocks of time just by piling on the ball and waiting for officials to pull them off the pile.

[OmahaCard79]

I don't really see the downside to the clock stuff. In the past there's always been a varying level of downtime between the play being blown dead, the ball being spotted, and the play clock being started. Now that's uniform. It also prevents teams from wasting blocks of time just by piling on the ball and waiting for officials to pull them off the pile.

could the new clock rules actually make this worse?

Let's say we're in the last 2 minutes of the game when the play clock supposedly starts on the snap of the ball. Then, the offense (who is 80 yards away and needing a touchdown to win) throws a screen pass that breaks for 50 yards. That play could conceivably take 10 or maybe even 15 seconds if there are several tackles broken. After that, let's say a shrewd defense decides to take their time unpiling for the next play. Let's say they stay in the pile for, oh, 8 seconds. Then, the refs still have to spot the ball. Let's say that takes 8 seconds. By that time, the play clock could conceivably be down to 10 seconds. That would be enough time to get the play off, but would make it difficult to audible at the LOS and read the defense. Those are pretty important facets of offensive strategy.

In situations like that, I could see this being maddening to the offenses and FORCE every team to play in a no huddle, hurry up offense. I'm sure it's doable, but it really changes the way the game is played in a 2:00 minute drill type of situation. Think about all of the methodical game winning drives you've seen in the past. Those would be tougher to execute in this situation.

Also, if players are taking their time to unpile, when does the ref have to draw the line and call delay of game on the defense. Since the clock is running, it's a little more imperative, I think.

Maybe I will be wrong and the change to this new rule will be seamless. Who knows, but I see it causing some unforseen problems like they had the year they had the game clock start on change of posession. I guess I'm just not in favor of changing the way the game is played for the sake of saving 5-10 minutes in game time that they'll probably just fill with more commercials anyway.

We shall see.