Category Archives: college football

College Football Rule Changes and You

Sure, I’m a few months late on this but I think the hoopla has died down quite a bit and I want to talk about football. Plus this will help prepare for the inevitable onslaught a month-and-a-half from now of people asking, “What the hell is up with the play clock?”

Due to the length of some of the new rules, I won’t copy and paste the exact rule, but you can download yourself a copy of the 2008 NCAA Rule Book from their website. I’d encourage you to do so – I find it’s helpful to have handy on your desktop during the season. Page numbers listed below reflect the page numbers in the PDF, not in the document (just subtract one to get the “real” page number).

  • Rule 1-4-9-d (page 39) has been changed to reflect that all referees will be required to have microphones starting in the 2010 season. The microphone must also be controlled by the referee and should be the “lapel-type” (this is the most common one anyway).
  • Rule 1-4-9-g (page 39) has been added mostly likely due to the whole Spygate debacle thing, as it prohibits recording opposing teams’ signals.
  • The chop block rule (2-3-3, page 44) has been simplified to read that any combination of high-low or low-high blocks anywhere on the field is a chop block. Previously, amongst other things adjacent linemen could engage in such blocks.
  • Rule 3-2-2-h (page 68) has been deleted as part of the slew of clock changes. Last year, this was a new rule that provided for the play clock to be 15 seconds coming out of TV timeouts.
  • Rule 3-2-2-i has been deleted. Last year it provided for the clock being reset to its original state after an inadvertent whistle.
  • Rule 3-2-4 has been extensively changed to reflect the new timing rules borrowed from the NFL. Rule 3-2-4-b provides for the new 40-second clock that begins as soon as the previous play is blown dead. It has two other sub-parts. The first part states that if the 40-second count is interrupted for some reason, the referee should reset the play clock to 40-seconds. The second states that if the ball is not ready for play after 20 seconds, the referee shall stop the clock. After the ball is ready for play, the play clock will restart at 25-seconds, and the game clock shall resume ticking if that was the result of a previous down. Rule 3-2-4-c provides a list of situations in which the 25-second clock should be used. Essentially, the 25-second clock should be used if: there was a penalty on the previous down, a timeout (any kind) was called, measurement, change of possession, after any kick, after any score (i.e., for tries), the start of each team’s series in over time, after instant replay reviews, and any other administrative stoppage. Rule 3-2-4-d is the rule that states that if one play clock is inoperable, both should be turned off and has been updated to reflect that it no longer the 25-second clock.
  • Rule 3-2-5-a-12 (page 70) is also important. It provides for that when a runner, fumble, or lateral goes out of bounds the clock shall continue running on the ready for play, unless this occurs in the last two minutes of the half. (And even then, if there is an illegal forward pass designed to conserve time (i.e., intentional grounding) or a fumble that has gone forward and then out-of-bounds the clock will continue to run.) A new part, 3-2-5-a-13 has also been added to reinforce 3-2-4-b’s statement about what happens when the referee inadvertently stops the play clock.
  • Rule 6-2-1 (page 89) provides for what happens when a kickoff goes out-of-bounds. Last year, the kick off line was moved to the 30 yard line but teams still got the the ball on their own 35 if they accepted the penalty. This year, the penalty for a kickoff out-of-bounds is a penalty of 30 yards from the kickoff restraining line, i.e., the 40 yard line.
  • Rule 9-1-2-p (page 119) makes horse-collar tackles illegal, except on runners between the tackles and quarterbacks in the pocket.
  • Rule 9-1-2-q has been changed to remove the incidental facemask foul. Plays that were previously under the incidental facemask foul are no longer penalties. If the facemask or other part of the helmet is “twisted, turned, or pulled” then it is a 15-yard foul. When in doubt, it is a foul.
  • Rule 9-1-3 (page 120) replaces several rules governing hitting players with the crown of the helmet (a.k.a. “spearing”) and targeting a defenseless player. There are several situations in which a player is defined as defenseless, thought it is ultimately a judgment call. These are the examples listed: a QB after a handoff or option play who ceases participation, a kicker in the act of kicking, a passer who has not had enough time to get back into the play, a receiver who is focusing on the ball or has given up on the play, the kick receiver who is concentrating on the ball or has just caught it, players that have relaxed after the ball is dead, and players who are obviously out of the play. The penalty for this foul is a 15-yard personal foul, with possible ejection for egregious violations.
  • Rule 9-1-6 (page 122) adds enforcement for sideline warnings this year. The penalty for a sideline warning is 5 yards on the first and second infractions, and 15 yards thereafter.
  • Rule 12-3-1-a (page 145) is the first of many rule changes regarding replay this year. This change describes the situations in which field goals can be reviewed (remember the debacle last year?). Essentially, the FG can be reviewed to see if the ball was above or below the crossbar and if the ball was inside the uprights, so as long as the ball did not cross above the uprights.
  • Rule 12-3-3-a (page 146) gets a note removed about how a play was not reviewable if the runner was ruled down, because of the next section.
  • Rules 12-3-3-b and -c are new. (b) basically says that if a runner is ruled down, but he actually fumbled before becoming down and the ball is immediately recovered before any official signals the play dead then the play can be reviewed. There can be no advance if the ruling on the field of down-by-rule is overturned. (c) says that it can be reviewed whether a player went out-of-bounds or into the end zone.
  • Rule 12-3-3-h adds the statement that the replay official may correct an “egregious” game-clock error.
  • Rule 12-3-4 (page 147) states that no other plays other than the ones listed are reviewable. This year, an exception has been added for plays that are in the judgment of the replay official to be “egregious errors,” however, fouls that are not reviewable are still, well, not reviewable. (Only three fouls are essentially reviewable: illegal forward pass, number of players participating, and whether a punter is across the line of scrimmage when the ball is kicked.)
  • Rule 12-5-1-b-1 (page 148) changes the rules regarding the head coach’s challenge, adding a provision that a coach gets, essentially, a “bonus” challenge if his first is successful.

Stanford Football: We Are Totally Not Desperate for Your Business

So I’m looking attending a football game at least of one of the Bay Area’s 3 Divison I-A programs this fall. The main criteria are that Tech has to has to have the Saturday off, or at any rate, there aren’t any interesting games going on concurrently.

As you may recall, Stanford has the all of five home games (apparently they got San Jose State to switch) this year, which at any institution that actually cares about football would probably result in their athletic director getting fired for gross incompetence. At any rate, I noticed this on the header of their website:
Yes, that’s right folks, it’s the Stanford Cardinal Gridiron Guarantee! If you are unhappy with your season ticket purchase, you can just ask for your money back! Also, season tickets are only $130, which is $26 per game! Hell, I’d buy them if it didn’t involve possibly going to more than one Stanford game.

Any I thought Tech season ticket packages were cheap.

Rating the 2008 Non-Conference Slate, Part 6: SEC

Sorry for the delay, but real life and its associated things got in the way of me finishing this. So let’s wrap ‘er up.

  1. Florida (2 legit, 1 DI-AA): Hawaii, Miami (FL), The Citadel, @Florida State. Thanks to rivalry games, this is probably the most intriguing OOC schedule of any SEC team. Other schools (UGA, Auburn, Tennessee) have a single intriguing OOC game (well, for most folks) which puts them further down the list. Also, it’s interesting to see that Hawaii can get teams to schedule them now.
  2. Georgia (1.75, 1): Georgia Southern, Central Michigan, @Arizona State, Georgia Tech. Georgia Southern fans are, of course, licking their chops for another shot at the in-state favorites. While I’d love to see it, I’m not nearly as optimistic as them. I’ve said a million times in this space how amazing it is to see UGA travel further west than Fayetteville, Arkansas for a regular season football game – again, the first time since 1965. And, of course, there’s that pesky contest two days after Thanksgiving…
  3. South Carolina (1.5, 1): North Carolina State, Wofford, Alabama-Birmingham, @Clemson. NCSU is a good OOC choice, and Clemson is, of course, the rivalry game. A little meatier than the fare The Visor typically puts on his OOC plate, but overall still pretty mediocre.
  4. Arkansas (1, 1): Western Illinois, Louisiana-Monroe, @Texas, Tulsa. I always like seeing the old SWC rivalries renewed, Texas-Arkansas being the chief among them. I don’t know if Arkansas fans consider LSU or Texas a bigger rival at this point, but it’s always a treat regardless. The rest of the schedule is a joke.
  5. Auburn (1, 1): Louisiana-Monroe, West Virginia, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee-Martin. As most folks probably now by now, Southern Miss fired their long time coach after last season. I expect to see morale fall off the table at USM and it will probably be a long time before they start scaring the heavyweights again. UL-M and UT-Martin and the typical joke options here, but it was a real toss-up for me whether to put West Virginia ahead of Texas or not. Either way, WVU is not typical SEC fare so this should be an extremely interesting game on the Plains.
  6. Tennessee (1, 0): Alabama-Birmingham, @California-Los Angeles, Northern Illinois, Wyoming. Tennessee once again schedules a Pac-10 team, and also manages not to play any DI-AA teams. A commendable thing to be sure, because while UAB, NIU, and Wyoming may not be much more likely to beat the Vols than the Samfords of the world at least they have something of a chance.
  7. Alabama (1, 0.5): N-Clemson, Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State. Huge neutral site matchup versus Clemson at the Georgia Dome to open up the season for ‘Bama. Fun fact: did you know that Tulane was one of the original 13 members of the SEC? Indeed they were, leaving the conference in 1966 due mostly to being terrible. (The other original members were Suwanee and Georgia Tech.)
  8. Vanderbilt (0.75, 0): @Miami (OH), Duke, Rice, @Wake Forest. Vandy schedules to their level, but also lacks DI-AA teams. A good job here. I would expect them go to 3-1 against this schedule, but I don’t know for sure how they’re going to fare this year.
  9. Mississippi State (0.75, 1): @Louisiana Tech, Southeast Louisiana, @Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee State. Remember how I said GT used to be in the SEC? And that only 3 schools have left? So, you may be thinking that GT-MSU will be restoring some ancient rivalry that dates back to the very beginnings of college football, having been in the same conference all those years. And you would be wrong. Georgia Tech and Miss State have played each other twice, in 1908 and 1929, while both were still members of the Southern Conference. (Tech won both games.) How was this possible? Until relatively recently, SEC teams could set their own conference schedules. Tech gained nothing by traveling to Mississippi to play Miss State or Ole Miss, and so they simply didn’t schedule them.
  10. Mississippi (0.75, 1): Memphis, @Wake Forest, Samford, Louisiana-Monroe. We’re starting to get into joke schedule territory, but at least Ole Miss is terrible. Also, the sports writing world misses you, Coach O.
  11. Kentucky (0.5, 1): @Louisville, Norfolk State, Akron, Temple. Kentucky was pretty bad for a long time, so they probably set their schedule accordingly. Nonetheless, when your OOC rival provides your only legit game you may want to re-examine your scheduling philosophy.
  12. Louisiana State (0.25, 1): Appalachian State, North Texas, Troy, Tulane. And I’m looking at you LSU. Seriously, who are you trying to fool here? App State (last year’s DI-AA champs) may actually be the toughest team on this schedule, depending on if Troy can recover from their last game collapse last year. Looking at this slate too long makes me physically ill, so let’s move on.

So that’s all for now. If I can get the numbers worked out, I’ll get you the hardest OOC schedules on a subjective and objective basis, at least as much as I can. This may take awhile (as in, a month). So, until next time folks.

Rating the 2008 Non-Conference Slate, Part 5: Pac-10

Today, we take on some of college football’s strongest schedules in everyone’s favorite 3 OOC game league, the Pacific 10. As a conference, the Pac-10 has the best average scheduling and they also have the fewest number of games versus DI-AA opponents with two.

  1. Southern California (2.75 legit, 0 D-IAA): @Virginia, Ohio State, Notre Dame. This is probably the best OOC schedule in the country this year. While we have no reason to think that Virginia or Notre Dame will be very good this year, they’re still better than, say, your average WAC team. Oh, and yeah, there’s that whole “Ohio State” thing that makes for probably the most interesting inter-sectional game of the year. USC deserves props for putting together this schedule at any rate, and using their OOC games as a national power should.
  2. Washington (2.5, 0): Brigham Young, Oklahoma, Notre Dame. While no one is exactly jumping with joy over playing Washington, this is still a pretty good schedule. Two legitimate games and BYU usually isn’t a pushover. Unfortunately for Washington, they’re entirely likely to go 0-3 against this schedule. Oh, and also they’re apparently trying to change their awesomely out-of-date fight song. I mean, how can you go wrong with lines like The boys are there with bells / Their fighting blood excels / It’s harder to push them across the the line than to cross the Dardanelles. (Just to make it clear, I am not being sarcastic here.)
  3. Oregon State (2.25, 0): @Pennsylvania State, Hawaii, @Utah. We’re taking a break from the 2 BCS team schedules here to bring one that’s still pretty darn strong. Two road games, one surprising at Utah, but still. While OSU should still win 2/3 of here, it’s not a terrible schedule by any means.
  4. California-Los Angeles (2, 0): Fresno State, Tennessee, @Brigham Young. Did Fresno regain their mojo last year? While an early test at Rutgers will tell a lot, they also play the boys from LA which should be a demonstration of whether either team made progress. UCLA also has Tennessee’s Annual West Coast Road Trip and a date in Provo that makes this a darn good schedule.
  5. California (1.5, 0): Michigan State, @Maryland, Colorado State. While this schedule lacks the sex appeal of some of the earlier schedules without a “name” big conference opponent, it’s still got plenty of meat, especially if CSU doesn’t suck this year.
  6. Oregon (1.5, 0): Utah State, @Purdue, Boise State. This is where it starts to go a little downhill, but for most conferences that usually happens much earlier than at 6th place. Still, good inter-sectional matchup over in West Lafayette and a BCS team playing Boise State is always intriguing. Still, Utah State pretty much sucks.
  7. Arizona State (1, 1): Northern Arizona, Nevada-Los Vegas, Georgia. Nothing to write home about here, except for, oh, yeah, the first time the University of Georgia has traveled west of Arkansas or Louisiana or north of the Ohio River for a (regular season) football game since 1965. Should be interesting, at any rate. The rest of this schedule sucks, as ASU is one of only 2 Pac-10 teams to play a DI-AA team.
  8. Washington State (1, 1): N-Oklahoma State, @Baylor, Portland State. And here’s the other! While this technically features 2 BCS teams, one of them is Baylor. The OSU game will be in Seattle as well, presumably to sell more tickets to Oklahoma State fans. I’ve put the “N” next to it, but I suspect the game will technically a “home” game for Wazzou.
  9. Stanford (1, 0): @Texas Christian, @San Jose State, @Notre Dame. Fun fact: Stanford managed to have a schedule with only four home games on it. Stanford football, catch the fever! (Just not in Palo Alto.) Maybe I should try going to the Stanford@SJSU game just for the heck of it.
  10. Arizona (0, 0): Idaho, Toledo, @New Mexico. This is usually where I rail against terrible schedules, and well, I’m going to do it again. This schedule is terrible. Even though they play no DI-AA teams, and Toledo and New Mexico aren’t terrible, every other team in this conference managed to play at least one BCS team from somewhere on their schedule, and the best you could do was this? Shame you on, Arizona.

Next, we’ll wrap up the detailed overview part of this series with the SEC.

Rating the 2008 Non-Conference Slate, Part 4: Big XII

Onward, to everyone’s favorite red-meat conference, the Big XII.

  1. Colorado (2 legit, 1 DI-AA): (N)Colorado State, Eastern Washington, @Florida State, West Virginia. Gets an edge over Baylor since FSU and WVU are better than Washington State, Wake Forest, and UConn. Also, Colorado is not Baylor.
  2. Baylor (2, 1): Wake Forest, Northwestern State, Washington State, @Connecticut. Good job getting 3 BCS teams, though I have to wonder if it’s because they’re being scheduled as a BCS-patsy.
  3. Oklahoma (1.25, 1): Tennessee-Chattanooga, Cincinnati, @Washington, Texas Christian. Not as exciting as Nebraska’s schedule, but 2 BCS teams give the Sooners a slight edge. The away game also helps, and TCU isn’t terrible.
  4. Nebraska (1, 0): Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Virginia Tech. This is pretty much Virginia Tech and nothing else. Don’t get me wrong, this is another one of those inter-sectional matchups I like to see, but the rest of the schedule sucks, even if there are no DI-AA teams on it.
  5. Texas (1, 0): Florida Atlantic, @Texas-El Paso, Arkansas, Rice. Texas pretends it’s in the SWC again and schedules an away game in El Paso for some reason. Nonetheless, they’ll go 4-0 against this slate.
  6. Texas A&M (0.75, 0): Arkansas State, @New Mexico, Miami (FL), Army. Reprises the Miami game from last year, otherwise, not much going on here. Though @UNM raises an eyebrow.
  7. Missouri 0.75, 1): (N)Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Nevada, Buffalo. I like the Illinois game. Not so much everything else.
  8. Oklahoma State (0.75, 1): (N)Washington State, Houston, Missouri State, Troy. I’m not going to look it up, but I imagine the Wazzou neutral-site game is in Seattle. Nothin’ much else going on here.
  9. Kansas (0.75, 1): Florida International, Louisiana Tech, @South Florida, Sam Houston State. Man, these schedules are rapidly going downhill. I don’t really have an opinion on this schedule either way, other than that there’s not much to look forward to here.
  10. Kansas State (0.5, 1): Louisiana-Lafayette, Montana State, @Louisville, North Texas. And less so here, though I’m trying to remember my logic that ranked South Florida ahead of Louisville. Oh well.
  11. Iowa State (0.5, 1): South Dakota State, Kent State, @Iowa, @Nevada-Las Vegas. Well, at least they’re not getting scheduled as a BCS patsy. Yet.
  12. Texas Tech (0, 1): Tulsa, @Nevada, Southern Methodist, Massachusetts. This isn’t quite as bad as Indiana’s schedule, but the TTU machine should have no problems putting up at least 150 points on this bunch.