Week zero of the 2024 college football season provided a fascinating undercard to what could be in store over the next few months: the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. Georgia Institute of Technology They shocked the college football world with a stunning upset win over Florida State in Dublin.
But the season gets underway in earnest this week. The weekend games will feature No. 7 Notre Dame No.20 Texas A&MNo. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta, and No. 23 USC vs. No. 13 LSU In Las Vegas.
Now that the college football schedule is in full swing, we New Rules It will go into effect starting with the 2024 college football season. There will be a lot of technology changes both on the field and on the sidelines, but there will also be some new safety rules and some new time limit rules.
Technology rules
Several new technologies will be introduced in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) this season, including coach-player communication and the use of tablets on the sidelines.
Coach and player communication
The FBS is making an exception to rule 1-4-11-b this year to allow in-helmet radios, which will allow communication between coaches and players.
The rules state that only one player at a time may be on the field with a helmet radio, which must be identified by an “unbranded” green dot on the back of the helmet. The radio is turned off when the play clock reaches 15 seconds or the snap sounds, whichever comes first. The communications system is turned back on when the play clock is reset to 25 or 40 seconds.
If an official sees more than one Green Dot helmet on the field at one time, a live ball, five-yard equipment violation penalty will be assessed. The violation will also trigger a conference review.
Additionally, Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams playing against FBS schools will also be able to utilize the communications system.
Tablet for in-game video
Starting this season, the NCAA will only allow the use of tablets for video recording during games.
This exception to Rule 1-4-11-a allows teams to watch “in-game video” on tablets, in the coaches' box, on the sidelines and in the locker room. The video can include sideline, endzone and play-by-play program feeds and can show “game situations” such as downs, distances, times, quarters and scores, but cannot include analytics, data or data access capabilities.
A team can have up to 18 standard tablets active, and all team members can view the tablets.
If a team official uses a tablet to show video to an official or to review video, an automatic unsportsmanlike conduct foul will be called.
Timing Rules
2 Minute Timeout
As College Football 25 As players know, the two-minute warning has been implemented in college football.
This modification of Rule 3-3-5, called the “two-minute timeout,” causes the clock to stop with two minutes remaining in the second and fourth quarters in college football. If the game clock is running and the ball is not live, the clock stops at exactly two minutes. If the ball is live when the game clock hits two minutes, play continues and the next time the ball is declared dead the referee stops the clock.
Radio and television broadcast partners must save one media timeout for the two-minute timeout.
During a two-minute timeout, the play clock is set to 25 seconds and the game clock starts on the next snap.
Replay Rules
Collaborative Replay
Under Rule 12-4-3, conferences can now implement a “joint instant replay” process, which is currently an experimental rule.
Replays and halftime
At the end of the first half, after both teams have left the field and the umpire has had the final play approved by both the on-field staff and the replay official, the umpire will call the end of the first half if there is no objection from the coach.
Once the end of the half has been declared, no additional replay review from previous plays will be allowed.
Dead ball and loose ball replays
If the player throwing the pass is ruled down or out of bounds before the pass is thrown and the replay official has “incontrovertible” evidence that the ball was released before the dead ball call, the replay official may rule “immediate continued action.”
If the pass is caught by either team, possession of the ball is awarded at that point and the ball does not move forward.
If the pass is incomplete, a down is counted.
Enforcement of penalties after replay
This year, college football is clarifying the application of penalties after replay review: if a play is overturned by replay, penalties with a 5- or 10-yard penalty will not be applied and will become a dead-ball penalty.
However, penalties for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct always apply. These penalties apply regardless of whether the play is overturned.
Safety Rules
Horse Collar Tackle
College football has expanded the horse-collar tackle rule. Under the previous version of Rule 9-1-15, a horse-collar tackle in the tackle box was not considered a penalty. However, starting this season, a horse-collar tackle in the tackle box is now a 15-yard personal foul penalty.
