College football continued to iron out the wrinkles of the game. The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced rule changes on Wednesday that will make it harder for teams to get a free bonus timeout.
For years we’ve seen players, primarily defenders, fake injuries to give their team an extra stoppage to game plan or for a breather against a fast-pace offenses, the NFF is trying to put a stop to that by enforcing defensive delay of game penalties to teams who have a player presented as injured following the official’s spotting of the ball. Injured players will be forced to miss at least a down of action, even if the team uses a timeout.
College Sports Wire’s Tyler Nettuno explained the rule change in greater detail.
“Faking injuries has been a contentious topic of discussion in college football in recent years, with many coaches believing players are being instructed to exit the game unnecessarily to stop the clock or arrest another team’s offensive tempo. Now, it seems the rules committee is attempting to address it.
Beginning in 2025, teams will be charged a timeout if a player presents an injury after the officials spot the ball. If the team is out of timeouts, they will be assessed a delay-of-game penalty. Previously, a timeout could be burned to allow an injured player to return to the game immediately; however, they will now be required to miss at least one down regardless.
Injured players also won’t be permitted to return to the game until they’ve been cleared by the team’s medical staff.” Nettuno wrote.
Now it’s up for programs and players to adjust to not pick up delay of game flags for trying to finesse the officials into providing a bonus timeout.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: College football changes rule to disincentivize players faking injuries
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
