2006 Clock Changes On The Way Out

Two controversial rules, 3-2-5 and 3-2-5-e, are destined to be scrapped. The Football Rules Committee put in the changes for the 2006 season to help speed up games that were often three hours or more.

Rule 3-2-5 dictated that the clock start when the ball is free kicked and rule 3-2-5-e, the more controversial, ordered that, after a possession change, the clock would start on the officials' ready-for-play signal.

The rules had a significant impact on speed of play and drew harsh criticism from many of the game's high-profile coaches.

Bobby Bowden was one of the most vociferous opponents of the clock changes. Bowden had said,"I don't know many coaches that are too happy with the new rules. They're trying to speed the game up. All they're speeding up are [coaching] firings."

The NCAA's football rules committee decided last week to repeal the controversial clock rule changes it made last year and tweaked rules to keep games shorter while still restoring the 14 plays a game lost last season to the new clock rules in Division I-A. Last year's changes enraged fans and coaches, who complained that actual playing time was sacrificed to make games more television-friendly.

The changes - which still must be approved by the NCAA's playing rules oversight panel March 12 - would eliminate controversial Rule 3-2-5e and restore the timing rules that governed play in 2005. Mike Clark, the chair of the rules committee and coach at Division III Bridgewater (Va.) College, said the 14 minutes shaved off each game by 3-2-5e would be eliminated by taking away dead time."After reviewing the data … we didn't think the trade [of actual plays for time saved] was worth the exchange," Clark said in a teleconference.