Published Apr 21, 2020
NCAA Approves Proposed Changes To Targeting And Instant Replay Rules
Clayton Sayfie  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
Twitter
@CSayf23

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved several proposals pertaining to college football rules on Tuesday, including instant replay procedures, targeting penalties and more.

The changes will be take effect immediately, starting with the beginning of the 2020 college football season.

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Targeting

Players disqualified for targeting will now be allowed to remain on the team's sideline, as opposed to being forced to go back to the locker room.

"Players flagged for targeting will remain disqualified from the game," the new rule states. "But instead of being ejected and required to head to the locker room after a targeting foul — which had been the rule since 2013 — players will be permitted to remain in the team area. All other aspects of the targeting rule remain the same."

Instant Replay

The panel approved a guideline for instant replay officials to complete video reviews in less than two minutes. This guideline was passed in efforts to speed up the pace of play across college football, as the use of replay has become more prevalent.

This is a guideline and overall expectation, the NCAA says. Reviews that are "exceptionally complicated or involve end-of-game issues should be completed as efficiently as possible without a stated time limit," the new guideline states.

Additionally, the panel approved a clock administration rule regarding instant replay.

"If the game clock expires at the end of a half and replay determines that there was time remaining and the clock should start on the referee’s signal after review, there must be at least three seconds remaining, when the ball should have been declared dead, to restore time to the clock. If less than three seconds remain on the game clock, the half is over."

Duplicate Numbers

The panel approved a rule that will now restrict the number of team members wearing the same jersey number to two. The previous rule that required players with the same number to play different positions and not be on the field at the same time still applies.

"The Football Rules Committee recommended this adjustment to reduce the confusion caused by multiple players wearing the same number," the rule states. "Allowing more than two players with the same number has created confusion for the game officials and has made scouting opponents difficult. To respond to the popularity of single-digit numbers, players can wear “0” as a legal number."

Pregame Protocol

Due to concerns about negative interactions between teams before the game, officials' jurisdiction will now begin 90 minutes before kickoff, instead of the previous rule, which gave officials jurisdiction starting 60 minutes before kick.

Additionally, a coach from each team must be present during on-field pregame warmups, and all players must be able to be identified by number.

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