The NCAA Football Rules Committee, subject to consideration by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel at its March 12, 2007, meeting, voted last week to eliminate several of the time-saving measures that caused fewer plays from scrimmage in 2006 and games that averaged 14 fewer minutes.

In Rule 3-2-5-e, the committee changed the rule back to have the clock start on the snap after a change in possession as opposed to 2006 when the referee signaled the ball ready for play. The committee also returned to starting the clock on kickoffs only when the ball is legally touched in the field of play.

The Rules Committee also asked for implementation of limiting the play clock to 15 seconds after a media timeout, kickoffs’ point moved back to the 30 from the current 35-yard line, reducing charged team timeouts by 30 seconds, allowing kicking team penalties to be enforced at the end of the runs, more effective overall time management by all participating groups (including media partners, game officials and game managers), and putting a cap on replay reviews of two minutes.

The rule changes must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on March 12.