College football could have drastic rule changes if commissioners get their way

College football could be drastically changed with time being on the commissioners’ side.

People who mess with time tend to pay the ultimate price for it.

While conference commissioners are not in possession of Hermoine Granger’s Time-Turner (not that we know of…), they are looking at ways to speed up the game of college football. FBS games regularly run well over three hours. While college fans will watch games no matter how long they take, it is all about player safety, as well setting up an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Here are the four proposed rule changes that may be enacted by the start of the year to save time.

College football proposed rule changes to speed up the game and make it safer

Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger outlined the rules up for debate. While he believes two will pass with flying colors, another is trending in that direction, while the fourth is a bit controversial.

Here are the four proposed rule changes in question to save some time.

1. Prohibit the use of consecutive timeouts. (RIP icing the kicker, etc.)
2. No untimed downs at the end of the first and third quarters due to a defensive penalty. (The down in question would begin at the start of the second and fourth quarters, respectively).
3. A running clock after converted first downs, except for those being inside of two minutes.
4. A running clock after an incomplete pass as soon as the ball is spotted by the official.

The first two proposals are going to pass.

Prohibiting consecutive timeouts will not help with player safety a ton, but would eliminate the agonizing end to crucial special teams plays. Death, taxes and college kickers, man…

The second makes a ton of sense as well. This all about player safety, as it, in theory, eliminates a play from the game every time it is used. Of course, how often are defensive penalties called on the final plays of the first and third quarters? Exactly, that is where the other two come into play…

Using a running clock after converted first downs is probably a necessary change for college football to make at this point in time. It lines up with the NFL much more favorably. No doubt about it, this would speed up the game considerably. Since the college game does not implement a two-minute warning, there is no issue with stopping the clock after those first-down conversions.

However, the fourth proposal is highly controversial. Starting the clock after an incompletion once the ball is spotted would speed up the game even more than running the clock after all first-down conversions outside of two minutes. I get what college football is trying to do here, but the NFL does not even enact this. Do you really want to punish an offense full of 18-to-23-year-old kids?

Overall, this is all about lopping off plays here and there so that games can be shorter and therefore safer, while simultaneously allowing the conferences to go ahead with an expanded playoff. In the dawn of NIL and collectives, we are creeping ever closer for their to be a CFBPA. These are amateurs in name only, as college football has undoubtedly gone big time in the 2020s.

Ultimately, the commissioners need to be careful over messing with time. If they want to implement a new rule or two each year, let them be well-thought-out and be ones to help take the sport in a positive direction. The last thing college football needs to do is overreact to something stupid like the NFL does on the reg, adopt a rule change and then abandon it only a season later.

Let it be known that college fans are going to watch a four-hour game if it can hold their attention.

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