A years-long effort in exploring ways to shorten college football games is entering the fourth quarter.
Executives of the sport are moving closer to recommending several clock rule changes meant to reduce plays for both safety and game length reasons, multiple officials tell Sports Illustrated. They include proposals that call for the clock to continue to run after first downs and incomplete passes.
High-ranking college football leaders have been reviewing four specific changes to clock rules, two of which are considered non-controversial, one that has garnered wide support and a fourth that has left some divided. The non-controversial proposals include (1) prohibiting consecutive timeouts (ie, icing kickers) and (2) no longer extending a first or third quarter for an untimed down if the quarter ends on a defensive penalty (the down would be clocked starting the next quarter).
