Opinion: How to Speed Up College Football Games (Really)
Note: Originally published on NowPublic.com
on November 7, 2007.
Athens, GA (Nov 7, 2007) - Last Saturday, the University
of Georgia hosted Troy
in a football game that was not broadcast live on any television network
or station. Even without the standard television timeouts, the game ran
for 3.28 Hours. Yes, 60 minutes of game took 3.5 hours to complete. This
fits right in with a report on CNNSI.com
today that states that even
with the repeal of controversial rules in place last year, and the modification
of others, "the time of games has increased about 14 minutes, from
3 hours, 7 minutes in 2006 to 3:21 this season." In the case of the
UGA-Troy game, the cause was not helped with both teams combining for 15
penalties and seven turnovers. Well I have a solution that is probably
too simple to implement: make the penalties really count for something
by penalizing the offensive team with yardage plus loss of down for all
penalties they commit.
A rule change like this would be very simple. Currently, if the offensive
team commits a penalty, they get penalized for yards but get a do-over
on the down being played (except in the case of intentional grounding).
Under the proposal being offered here, if the team gets a holding penalty
on a 3rd down and 10, they will now face a 4th down and 20. The drive will
end right then and there as they will be forced to punt or kick a field
goal. If they get the penalty on a 4th down play, the opposing team gets
the ball back at the line of scrimmage. Do you think University
of South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier
goes crazy now when things go bad for him? Think how hot he will get and
how many visors he will go through if his offense makes stupid mistakes.
Not only will we have shorter games, but it will make for even better TV
and other media coverage.
There would be no need to change the impact of defensive penalties. The
offense will get the penalty yardage and the do-over on the down. This
is the way it should be. If the defense messes up, the offense gets the
benefit.
There is, of course, one caveat to be included. If the officials have to
huddle to discuss a penalty for longer than one minute, no penalty can
be called and they must pick the flag up.
Hopefully the the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Rules Committee
will read this and understands how important it is that this proposed rule
change be implemented immediately. Sure, some coaches will scream, rant
and rave about the rule. Chances are that these will be the coaches whose
team don't have the discipline to avoid penalties. Since they are a big
part of the problem, should anybody really care what they say?