In case you missed them, the NCAA has issued some rule changes for the 2012 college football season:
- Teams will kick off at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. The intent of this rule change and others is reduce the number of injuries.
- Touchbacks on kickoffs will be moved to the 25-yard line instead of the 20. Touchbacks on other plays (punts that go into the end zone, or fumbles that go out of the end zone) will remain at the 20-yard line.
- If a player loses his helmet, it will be treated like an injury. The player must leave the game and is not allowed to participate for the next play. If a helmet comes off and the player’s team doesn’t have a timeout saved in a game’s final minutes, there will be a 10-second run-off.
- Offensive players in the tackle box at the snap who are not in motion are allowed to block below the waist legally without restriction. All other players are restricted from blocking below the waist with the exception of straight-ahead blocks.
- Players are prohibited from leaping over blockers in an attempt to block a punt.
Some of these changes may be for the better though guys, but more are still needed. What about a rule where a playere can’t fake a fair catch and then take off running to the end-zone? ….cough cough… Uconn…. cough cough.
We forgave UConn when their basketball team beat UK last year in the NCAA. 🙂
The yellow cards are are coming soon!
“Players are prohibited from leaping over blockers in an attempt to block a punt.”
Hmmm, that sort of takes all the fun out of punts.