2018 Proposed CFB Rules Changes

Infield Infidel

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Jul 15, 2005
11,463
Meeting Place, Canada
The football rules committee has proposed a few rules changes. The oversight panel reviews changes in April.

1. Kickoff fair catches
This seems like the biggest proposed change. A kickoff returner could call a fair catch inside the 25, and it results in a touchback. This extends the touchback area to about 35 yards to the back of the endzone. This seems to have been proposed because kickers have gotten better at kicking high kickoffs that land between the 5 and the goaline, and coverage usually stops returners inside the 25. It would increase player safety because there will be fewer returns.

2. No blocking below the waist beyond 5 yards, and no blocking below the waist from side/behind except for offensive lineman.

3. 40 second clock for extra points starts after the touchdown, and another 40 second clock after kickoffs, to speed the pace of play. (Overall game length went down 4 minutes last year due to changes like enforcing 20-minute length of halftime).

4. 10 second run-off for replay reviews in the last minute of the half/game, if the result of the review is a play that would not have stopped the clock.

5. Can't leap over the frame of a player on field goals/extra points, same as the current rule for punts.

6. For personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct on field goals, teams will get the option of assessing the penalty on the play or on the ensuing kickoff.
 
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InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Sep 27, 2016
21,770
Pittsburgh, PA
1. Kickoff fair catches
This seems like the biggest proposed change. A kickoff returner could call a fair catch inside the 25, and it results in a touchback. This extends the touchback area to about 35 yards to the back of the endzone. This seems to have been proposed because kickers have gotten better at kicking high kickoffs that land between the 5 and the goaline, and coverage usually stops returners inside the 25. It would increase player safety because there will be fewer returns.
No one could have predicted this consequence of extending the touchback LOS to the 25!

C'mon guys, if you don't want kickoffs - an exciting but dangerous play - then just eliminate them. Start every drive after a score from the 20 (or 25). All this patchwork rules nonsense, all for the sake of pretending like you're going to have a kickoff and then not having one, is the kind of farce you'd expect from the NFL.

But seriously, god forbid the defense on a special teams play executes well and gets a good result (LOS < 25 yd line).
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
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SoSH Member
#2 begs for uniform number standardization in college football.

Easy: did a guy with a number in the 60s or 70s make that block?

Hard: did that guy wearing number 6 who made that block line up as an offensive lineman?
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Dec 30, 2003
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No one could have predicted this consequence of extending the touchback LOS to the 25!

C'mon guys, if you don't want kickoffs - an exciting but dangerous play - then just eliminate them. Start every drive after a score from the 20 (or 25). All this patchwork rules nonsense, all for the sake of pretending like you're going to have a kickoff and then not having one, is the kind of farce you'd expect from the NFL.

But seriously, god forbid the defense on a special teams play executes well and gets a good result (LOS < 25 yd line).
It's probably because doing this would require the elimination of onside kicks. And those are the only way a team trailing at the end of the game can come back. And they are extremely exciting. You can't eliminate them from the game.
 

LeftyTG

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Jul 18, 2005
1,345
Austin
not to mention that there are plenty of times when a kickoff goes into the end zone and the team chooses to return it rather than take the knee. Just because a returner fields a kick at the 5 yard line doesn't mean a team with a dynamic returner won't try to return the kick anyway. I understand the proposed rule is meant to act as a disincentive to try to return a kick, but I think it is going too far to say it ventures into pretending to have a kickoff territory.