Rule changes you'd like to see

[clenz]

What are some rule changes that you'd like the see the NCAA institute for football?

I would like to see:
-2 feet in for a catch
-Get rid of the stupid ass "down when you touch the ground even though you are 20 yards away form the nearest defender and haven't been touched" rule.

[JohnStOnge]

I also would like to see the rule on beng down changed so that a player is not down unless they're contacted.

Also, I'd like to see the rules on offensive line blocking go back to what they were before they liberalized them to let them extend their arms and such...back to what they were in the 1970s. That way gimmick offenses such as what Texas Tech ran under Mike Leach would be discouraged and we could get back to real football instead of these sissy boy offenses.

[JALMOND]

Let the kids celebrate a great play without the risk of drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. In other words, use common sense when determining what is celebration and what is taunting. If its celebration, let it go.

[Rob Iola]

Put the goal posts back at the goal line like the good ol' days...

[JConnolly]

Celebrations (not taunting), Down by Contact, and make the hashmarks the same as the NFL, instead of the really wide ones they have now.

[UAalum72]

Put the goal posts back at the goal line like the good ol' days...

How old are you? NCAA goal posts have been on the end line since 1927.

Not a rule change, but 'blocking in the back on kick returns gets called so often, and I can't believe it's committed on purpose all the time, that some interpretation change should be made - illegal contact should have to clearly be in the back, not on the side, even if the blocker's helmet is trailing the tackler.

[JayJ79]

Bring back the drop kick.
Awarding 2 points for a successful drop kick through the uprights after a TD, and 4 points for a drop-kicked FG (as it is in the arena league, though it still isn't used much there),
or adopting the rugby/CFL version of the drop kick where it can be performed at any time and recovered by anyone on the kicking team who is onside (i.e. behind the kicker at the time of the kick)

[SuperHornet]

What clenz and JALMOND said.

Jay: the dropkick is still in the rule book. But adding AFL-style rules to encourage it would be a good idea, IMO. Flutie toyed with that CFL idea for years before the NFL put the kibosh on it in the '90s before a coach would give him the go-ahead.

Rob: that whole goalposts on the goalline concept was an NFL thing and cost Washington the NFL Championship one year because injured quarterback Sammy Baugh threw a bomb from his own end zone into his own posts (with a wide open receiver down the left sideline), resulting in a game-losing safety. That sorta killed the idea of having the goalposts in the blinking way.

Yes, I'd like to bring back group celebrations like the Smurfs. Butch Johnson's California Quake would probably get flagged today as would Mark Gastineau's sack dance. It's no wonder the NFL gets called the No Fun League....

[SUUTbird]

I also would like to see the rule on beng down changed so that a player is not down unless they're contacted.

Also, I'd like to see the rules on offensive line blocking go back to what they were before they liberalized them to let them extend their arms and such...back to what they were in the 1970s. That way gimmick offenses such as what Texas Tech ran under Mike Leach would be discouraged and we could get back to real football instead of these sissy boy offenses.

Dont know what Texas Tech did for their blocking but honestly i dont mind seeing the different types of blocking schemes today. For example the Military Academies and their triple option cut block like crazy since they dont have the size to go toe to toe with other teams...dont know about you but wouldnt call those guys sissies

[∞∞∞]

Bring back the drop kick.
Awarding 2 points for a successful drop kick through the uprights after a TD, and 4 points for a drop-kicked FG (as it is in the arena league, though it still isn't used much there),
or adopting the rugby/CFL version of the drop kick where it can be performed at any time and recovered by anyone on the kicking team who is onside (i.e. behind the kicker at the time of the kick)

When I was on the HS Freshman Football squad, I had been practicing the drop kick at home with some success. Anyways, we were up big at the end of a game and scored again and I asked coach if I could do it on the extra point and he agreed. Wiiiiiiiiiide left, like two yards into the air, and didn't even pass the end line...never tried it again.

As for the rule changes, I also agree that celebrations should be less strict with the ref making the judgement call. Also, the rule that was recently implemented that you can't put personal symbols on the eye black. Ultimately football is a GAME, which I believe the NCAA forgets sometimes with all its sports. Let the athletes have fun with it.

[89Hen]

None

[kdinva]

Let the kids celebrate a great play without the risk of drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. In other words, use common sense when determining what is celebration and what is taunting. If its celebration, let it go.

Agree there.........but if a legit taunting flag is thrown after the TD, don't give the other team the option of when to take the 15 yards. It's automatically done on the PAT. Make the PAT from the 35; and, if the kicker misses, the 80 other guys can stare down the taunter.

[Skjellyfetti]

For FCS I'd like to see replay used whenever it's possible. I realize smaller conferences wouldn't be able to do it. But, games on tv or with a video feed should be able to.

[Skjellyfetti]

Double post... damn iphone

[i_got_a_fever]

Every game a Bison Fan dishonors the flag during the national anthem, automatic forfeit.

[dbackjon]

Every game a Bison Fan dishonors the flag during the national anthem, automatic forfeit.

How do they do that?

[i_got_a_fever]

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the BISON!?!

I have never been to a game against ndsu, football, basketball, volleyball etc. where they didn't yell this out like a bunch of idiots. Stupid and disrespectful.

[JayJ79]

Let the kids celebrate a great play without the risk of drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. In other words, use common sense when determining what is celebration and what is taunting. If its celebration, let it go.

Agree there.........but if a legit taunting flag is thrown after the TD, don't give the other team the option of when to take the 15 yards. It's automatically done on the PAT. Make the PAT from the 35; and, if the kicker misses, the 80 other guys can stare down the taunter.

moving the PAT to the 35 would be a 33 yard penalty! (unless you're talking about the spot of the kick, not the spot of the snap, in which case it is still roughly a 20 yard penalty).

Besides, I would think that the other team would rather have the penalty enforced on the kickoff.

[Rob Iola]

Yeah yeah yeah - 1927, Redskins, Sammy Baugh, whatever...


If Enron, er, Minute Maid Park can have a flagpole in centerfield (on a hill!), then football can have goalposts in play - think of the mayhem!