Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – The NCAA has approved a series of rules changes for the upcoming football season, including one that will allow for a 10-second clock runoff for penalties in the final minute of each half.
If a team commits a penalty that stops the clock in the final minute of each half, the opponent will now have three choices.
The team can take a 10-second clock runoff and a yardage penalty, or just the yardage penalty without the clock runoff, or decline both. Previously, there was no clock runoff, which the NFL has employed for a number of years.
Also, the NCAA approved a rules change concerning blocking below the waist.
Wide receivers and backs in motion more than seven yards from the center at the snap of the ball can block below the waist only against a player facing him or toward the nearest sideline. If a player blocks below the waist on another player toward the center of the play, it will be a penalty.
Players on the line of scrimmage within seven yards of the center are still allowed to block below the waist anywhere on the field.
Previously, officials had to determine where a player started at the snap or, in the case of wide receivers, how far down the field the receiver was to determine whether the block below the waist was legal.
Players on place kicks will no longer be able to line up shoulder to shoulder in groups of three or more and move toward one lineman. Coaches on the NCAA Football Rules Committee cited examples of where one offensive lineman is overpowered by three defensive players in an attempt to penetrate the line of scrimmage to block a kick.
The new taunting rule, approved last April, will also go into effect this season.
If a player is flagged for taunting before reaching the end zone, the score will be nullified and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty will be enforced from the spot of the foul.
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