College football is on the clock ... again.
Another tinkering of the play and game clocks, something that has been adjusted each of the last three years, has coaches eager to see how they and their players will manage the game.
Both coaches Tommy West of Memphis and Houston Nutt of Ole Miss anticipate their teams will handle the transition smoothly in Saturday's season opener in Oxford.
"I think the clock will affect the teams that huddle a lot and have substitution patterns," West said. "But we try and play an uptempo game. We've put the clock on us at scrimmages, and we've been snapping the ball with 20 seconds left."
Added Nutt, "The 40-second clock really averages out to about being a 25-second clock by the time you snap it. We've worked really hard on managing the clock so I don't see a problem with that."
So what are the new clock rules?
The play clock: It now is a 40-second clock that starts as soon as the umpire places the ball on the ground and steps away. That replaces a 25-second clock that didn't begin until the referee gave the ready-for-play signal.
However, the clock can be reset from 40 to 25 for administrative purposes, such as marking off a penalty, a timeout or tending to an injured player.
The game clock: Now when a play goes out of bounds, the game clock will start as soon as the ball has been reset. It previously didn't begin until the snap. That will change in the final two minutes of each half, when the clock won't start until the ball is snapped.
Why tamper with the clocks? It's simple, said West.
"We're trying to speed up games," West said. "We've had some TV games in college football approach four hours, and that's way too long.
"And now with the passing game as popular as it is in college football, we've got to do everything we can to speed games up."
A couple of years ago, when the NCAA football rules committee first tinkered with the clock rules to speed up games, there were grumbles from coaches about their offenses getting fewer snaps.
So the rules committee went back to the drawing board.
"There was such a huge outcry from all coaches in all NCAA divisions," said Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, "that the rules committee has vacillated again on the rule."
Coaches have been adjusting to the rule last spring and in preseason, but haven't done so quietly. Many of them don't care that Division I-A games averaged 3 hours, 23 minutes last year compared to 3:07 in 2006.
"Why don't we make a change and stay with it a couple of years and see how it works out rather than having knee-jerk reactions and changing it every year?" Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said. "I've dealt with the 40-second rule in the NFL. That's not a problem.
"But I'd just like to leave them alone for a while so you don't have to go in and not only teach blocking and tackling and securing the ball and stripping the ball and all the football fundamentals, but every year now we've got to address new clock rules with the players."
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer agreed with Brooks, saying that "it's a pain in the butt every year to have to go through all those processes to change, particularly when you're going to be different in the last two minutes of a half or a game than you were the entire game."
But Fulmer, whose team opens the season on Monday at UCLA in a game in which the Vols will have a new starting quarterback and offensive coordinator, is ready to handle the clock changes.
"We scrimmaged all spring (with the clock rules), and we actually managed it really well," Fulmer said. "That's not (playing) at Auburn or at Georgia, you know, with the crowd noise, the intensity that it will be.
"Some people say we'll lose some plays from the new clock rules. But if we play offensively like we did in the spring, I don't think we will."
Rogers Redding, the SEC's supervisor of football officials and secretary-editor of the NCAA football rules committee, said the feedback he has received from coaches has been positive.
"It has worked well in spring scrimmages," Redding said. "We sent out instructional DVDs on the clock changes to coaches, coordinators and our clock operators. I feel like we're ready."
xxxxxxx
Long days
The following shows how the length of Division 1-A football games was affected by clock rules that were put in place for the 2006 season but removed for 2007:
Network / 2007 / 2006 /
ESPN / 184/3:28.14 / 168/3:26:32 /
ABC / 68/3:28.21 / 62/3:17:21 /
Fox / 32/3:31:34 / 34/3:11:35 /
Raycom / 27/3:15.44 / 27/3:05.16 /
CBS / 18/3:47:04 / 19/3:23:03 /
NBC / 7/3:15:44 / 7/3:18:08 /
No TV / 166/3:14:16 / 219/2:58:46 /
All Games / 792/3:23:04 / 792/3:07:24 /
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Comments » 42
smokedoctor writes:
#1
VOLPhan writes:
YYYYEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!
One handed countdown!!!
GO VOLS!!
vol4gzus writes:
smoking or toking gotta be so happy...yippeee...you got first...this is so old and no longer cute. It is stale and now, as others have said,childish. Don't mean to be mean, but it's like the kids at recess rushing out to get the field first before others. You know...nanna nanna boom boom etc
govolsfan#214750 writes:
If it aint broken, dont fix it.
Raynoch writes:
Less commercials could shorten the televised games. Why change the rules of a sport to compensate for advertising? These rule changes probably won't affect too much, but still, it is just annoying to keep up with from year to year.
BigOrangeVol writes:
So how in the world did it take 31:20 longer on average in 2007 to run a game on CBS than it did on NBC? Do those Notre Dame games have fewer commercials?
tnbanker_govols writes:
I agreed Raynoch. Why not sacrifice commercial breaks instead of altering the game?? Oh wait....it's about money!! That's Right!!!! Can't forget about the money!!!
Anyways, how about a new officiating crew for the SEC??
volboy81#211803 writes:
ITS ALMOST FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!
http://www.geocities.com/jerrybecker/...
DoWhatNow writes:
So CBS does run longer. Interesting.
That sucks, its just more time for Vern Lundquist to assault my ears and slobber over Tebow...
Moaninglikeheck writes:
I'm curious. Why do some of you fellers freak out because someone posts "first"? I mean really, does it make your eye sockets bleed because you had to read it? Does it give you a migraine? Does it make your web browser load .0001 seconds slower? I know its silly and a little childish, but I just overlook it and go to the next post. Try it!
Moaninglikeheck writes:
Honestly, the time you take to gripe about it, and the space your gripe post occupies is just as annoying as the "first" post in the "first" place...pardon the pun.
swclaw writes:
Those NBC/Notre Dame games go by so fast b/c opposing teams were kneeling into victory formation midway through the 3rd quarter.
PreventUT writes:
So the difference between 2007 and 2006 was about 15 min. The new rules will probably reduce game time by what, 7 min.? Wow...
Don't mind the 40 sec. clock. The game clock change is news to me, and it sounds fairly dumb.
volssam writes:
I knew it seemed longer for CBS to run a game....their commercial breaks take FOR-EV-ER ....... And I thought the new :40 play clock started as soon as the previous play ended. That's how I understood it, and I went to the O&W game, and I thought that's how it was then.....????
Go4Two writes:
As John Majors once said "Someone with too much time on their hands" Games are shorter but ticket prices continue to increase ????
PreventUT writes:
volssam: I think you have it right. I thought the same thing when I read the article.
CoverOrange writes:
The 40 second play clock will only reduce the number of offensive plays as teams trying to run out the clock have an extr 15 seconds between snaps. Otherwise, no diff.
Restarting the clock after out of bounds plays makes sense and should have been done a long time ago. That will shorten the game some.
Shortening the replay reviews would help. I can make a call at home on my TV in 20-30 seconds, why does it take the official in the booth 2-5 minutes?
ravensearay writes:
Why is it that the NCAA can make a quick decision on the clocks in football but they can't make a quick decision on Williams eligibility?
PreventUT writes:
A quick decision on the clocks? They change the rule every other year. Plus, any blame for Williams' case is on the SEC, not the NCAA.
ravensearay writes:
Changing a rule every year is pretty quick.....Usually they have to send something to committee to be studied for a few years and then they try it out for a year before they implement anything.
SEC - NCAA - It's all politics anyway.
imw8n4u writes:
Is it just me, or are the only people complaining about the games being too long the ones that are getting paid to be there? Give me more football, not less!!!
huntwithmojo writes:
I guess the biggest impact is when you can start the victory formation. What was the old min. time vs. the new time you can start a kneel down? Anybody know those times? Can you now seal a victory 45 seconds sooner?
jasonn1970 writes:
I agree 100% imw8n4u. It's not as if we hear complaints at the watercooler every day how the games are too long. And it's not as if the fans are saying they're going to quit watching the games because of it. It's just more TV BS. And it's also not as if the networks complaining are the only networks covering college football. There are many willing to fill the void if the long games become too much of a "burden" on them.
Volchaz writes:
More money, less football....hmmm...I didn't know anyone had a problem with getting their money worth of a game. Who are the ones complaining about this again?
AlpharettaVol writes:
If everyone clicked on "Suggest
Removal" whenever the asinine "first" appears, perhaps those persons would get the message.
volnbig11land writes:
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer agreed with Brooks, saying that "it's a pain in the butt every year to have to go through all those processes to change, particularly when you're going to be different in the last two minutes of a half or a game than you were the entire game."
Maybe I'm wrong but I find that statement funny coming from CPF considering we typically blew out our opponents in the first half and sat on the lead and hoped to ride it out the second half....
The clock didn't seem to play into our gameplan last year....
onevolfan99 writes:
I'm loking for 2 tickets to the florida game if anyone has any email me: phil_osborne7@yahoo.com
GO VOLS!!!!!
Volunteerfan writes:
I am #32...... Who cares? That is really stupid
gohawks1 writes:
Who wants shorter games? Dang, I can't get enough of the Vols as it is. Does anybody else care if the game runs 3.5 to 4 hours?
I WANT MORE FOOTBALL, NOT LESS.
IBleedOrange444 writes:
KNS was all over this story! Good job guys!
primetimevol writes:
I really hate it when a game comes out of break, you have the kick off, and then it goes right back to another break!
mlbrown5454 writes:
The out of bounds rule is just dumb.
Why change it at all if you are going to switch for the final 2 minutes?
Madkels writes:
Last year, rules to shorten the UF and UA games would have been great. Getting blown out was no fun. But this year we will get sweet revenge on the Elephants and Gators. Go Vols!
Now if only the LSU game in '06 would have been 8 seconds shorter!
rusty_shackleford writes:
We really don't get more football as the game is still 60 minutes long. What we get is more commercials. I agree with others that monkeying with the game clock to solve a TV problem doesn't make sense.
My suggestion: increase the price of each 30 second spot to offset fewer commercials. TV makes the same coin, advertisers get more for their money as they compete against less clutter, and we get fewer commercials...everyone wins!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
I could do with.... seeing a gecko just 108 times instead of 112. And that caveman thing-a-ma-bob!
Why not let Homer Simpson say, Hmmmmm, beer!
Or show the Clydesdales......
Ky-Tenn must have been 7 hours in 2007. Shorten the Fla game from 2007 somehow.
stevefrommemphis writes:
Changing the rules to appease ESPN, CBS, and others is disgusting. This makes me almost as mad as the inconsiderate idiots who think they have to stand up and block the views of elderly fans. Two years ago, the rule changes basically made college football a 53 minute game. After protests, they relented for one year. Now they're trying to shorten the game again, just in a more sneaky way - making college football more like the made-for-TV NFL variety. College games were being played quickly enough, until they started making every play subject to a 2 minute review. The networks never learned how to show their commercials during the reviews. Instead, they show the same replay over and over and over to try to guess how the official is going to rule.
MORE FOOTBALL, not less. If the TV executives don't like it, they need to find some way to make the intrusion of their commercials more efficient so that games consistently can be played in 3:30 under the old timing rules that had been in place forever until 2006.
gnm53108 writes:
Did somebody say beer?
Hmmmmmmm...
orangebloodgmc writes:
Dang, I bet rain and wind from that dang hurricane hits my town just about kickoff time on Monday!
Yes, I know it can have much more tragic impacts than disrupting a football broadcast, but .... dang!
UTvols12342000 writes:
they are shortening the game so that they can add more advertising time without making everything longer cause people are complaining about how long the games last.
They only want to add more advertising time. period.
imw8n4u writes:
stevefromhedoublehockeysticks (aka memphis)- fans standing up, cheering for the vols, involved in the game, making a difference, yelling 'til their voice is gone is what makes neyland a tough and special place to play. If your old butt can't get the job done anymore, surrender your seat to the next generation that can rock the stadium.
longtimefan writes:
Thanks moneygrabbers! Go ahead and ruin the college game for the sake of money. No wonder greed is a sin. I bet the people making these decisions know nothing about football. Certainly not fans of it. Bet they like monopoly though!
surfmaster writes:
This article is incorrect when it states "The play clock: It now is a 40-second clock that starts as soon as the umpire places the ball on the ground and steps away."
Actually, the 40-second clock starts the moment the previous play is blown dead.
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