Every year the NCAA has tweaks regarding the rules, here are all the ones that they changed this year. Honestly, I am pleasantly surprised with how they did this offseason. Typically, the NCAA does some dumb stuff, especially when it comes to college football but honestly all of these rule changes seem better for the game. Reducing the suspension period for targeting, giving coaches an extra challenge, implementing the fair kick catch, and adding specific verbiage for unsportsmanlike penalties to make it more black and white. Overall, I have no complaints and honestly can’t wait to see how this stuff changes the game this season.

Targeting penalty

The NCAA decided to trial a penalty change to the targeting penalty. The NCAA realized how stupid it was for banning a kid for an entire game on an accidental targeting play so they uplifted the harshness of the penalty. On a players first targeting penalty of the season, regardless of what half they committed the penalty they are not banned from the next game, changing from the past ruling where if they committed the penalty in the second half they were banned for the first half of the second game. Now if they do it again later in the season the old ruling applies, so if they commit it in the first half then they don’t have to be banned for the following week but if it’s in the second half they are banned for the first half of the next scheduled game.

This needed to change big time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a targeting get called late in a game that didn’t even matter directly impact a players ability to play the next game. It was outright dumb by the NCAA to not have this sooner, thank god they finally did something that made sense.

This is a step but I have a much better idea for the targeting rule. Can we get a tiered targeting? We’ve all been watching a college football game where someone gets a targeting call and we watch the flag come out, and technically it’s a targeting but its totally out of the players control or it’s a soft ass tackle that shouldn’t be. Can we let those players continue to play? It makes no sense that someone should be ejected for making incidental contact with their helmet after the OFFENSIVE player lowers his head into where the defender is going to tackle. MAKE IT HAPPEN NCAA. They won’t because they suck but I won’t stop preaching it from the rooftops until it gets done.

Offensive pass interference changed to a 10 yard penalty

This isn’t going to make headlines but I mean, I guess. Sure do what you want. I guess they want to help offenses score more? I don’t really care, it is what it is. They say that it killed too many drives but I mean, if DPI gives 15 then OPI should be the same penalty right? Why wasn’t DPI changed? All I know is overs are gonna be good early until Vegas catches up to this in week 3 or 4.

Official unsportsmanlike conduct rulings

This is the funniest one to me. This is the exact verbiage from the NCAA:

The list of automatic unsportsmanlike conduct fouls will be minimized and will be consistently penalized including: 

  • Any form of gun violence including brandishing a weapon. 
  • A slashing of the throat or a nose wipe signal. 
  • A player removing their helmet after the ball is dead (with exceptions for timeouts and equipment adjustments). 
  • Dead-ball contact fouls such as pushing, shoving, striking, etc. that occur clearly after the ball is dead and that are not part of the game action. 
  • After the ball is dead, using forcible contact to push or pull an opponent off the pile.

I can’t wait to see unsportsmanlike penalties go CRAZY in the first few weeks when receivers take their helmets off after the ref misses a call or the QB misses them on a deep ball as their walking off the sideline. This is going to be absolutely hilarious to watch some coaches absolutely rip their guys for doing this early in the season. Also, can we keep the nose wipe though? I obviously get why they did it but come on, it ain’t that bad on the field.

Additional coaching challenge

Coaches will now get an additional challenge if one of their two challenges is successful, in my opinion it’s a good thing for the game. I have loved the ABS in the MLB because it is hilarious to watch these refs having to come to terms with the fact that they are wrong and I’m always for refs having to do that more. Now I don’t want robot refs for a perfect game, I love the chaos of human refs calling games that are ran by absolute freak athletes that make Goliath seem like a midget. But I always love watching them have to eat their words and say that they were wrong on national television. I love watching coaches like Kirby, Lane, and Saban let them have it on the sideline and watching them stand their like a has been mall cop just absolutely take it. I’m ALWAYS for more opportunities to make refs feel like idiots, so this rule change feels amazing for the game.

Fair catch kick added to the game

Does anyone remember when harbaugh kicked that field goal at the end of the half with the chargers a few years ago without a pass rush?

Probably not, but it was the fair catch kick rule that allowed him to try and get 3 free points. Pretty much, if you catch a fair catch at the end of the half as time expires the coach can send out their kicker to kick with a holder, no snap, and kick a field goal without the defense on the field. It will rarely come up I’m sure, but I can’t wait until some football nerd special teams coach takes advantage of this. Absolute godsend of a rule to be added.

AVERAGE SPORTS FAN

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