Vorschau » to be done to slow down offences. Safety concerns

Not so fast, college football offences. A proposed change by the NCAA rules committee would prohibit offences from snapping the ball until at least 10 seconds had run off the 40-second play clock, slowing down the up-tempo, no-huddle attacks that have been making defences dizzy. The rule allows defences time to make a substitution without the offence changing players -- as is currently required -- and with no fear the ball will be snapped before 29 seconds are left on the play clock. An exception will be made for the final two minutes of each half, when the offence can snap the ball as quickly as it wants. "This rules change is being made to enhance student-athlete safety by guaranteeing a small window for both teams to substitute," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, chair of the football rules committee, said in a statement Wednesday. "As the average number of plays per game has increased, this issue has been discussed with greater frequency by the committee in recent years and we felt like it was time to act in the interests of protecting our student-athletes." The committee also proposed a change to the targeting rule that would eliminate the 15-yard penalty when instant replay officials overturn an ejection. Last year, when a targeting penalty was called, the 15-yard penalty stood even if the replay official determined the player should be allowed to stay in the game. Both proposals need approval from the playing rules oversight panel, which is schedule to consider them on March 6. The proposal to slow down offences will have a hard time passing if the many coaches who run up-tempo these days have anything to say about it. "Its ridiculous," said Arizonas Rich Rodriguez, who has been at the forefront of the fast football trend. "For me it goes back to the fundamental rules of football. The offence knows where they are going and when they are going to snap the ball. Thats their advantage. The defence is allowed to move all 11 guys before the ball is snapped. Thats their advantage. "Whats next? You can only have three downs? If you play that extra down you have more chance of injury." Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze said he found about the proposal when he got a phone call from Auburns Gus Malzahn, a fellow advocate of up-tempo offence. "I said, Yall are kidding me. Thats not true," Freeze told Malzahn. This is a non-rules change year for the NCAA, but exceptions can be made for rules that affect player safety. There was much discussion about the pace of the game last season, with some coaches -- most notably Alabamas Nick Saban and Arkansas Bret Bielema -- questioning whether something needed to be done to slow down offences. Safety concerns were cited because of the increased number of plays. The fastest-moving teams -- such as Arizona and Ole Miss -- average more than 80 plays per game. Texas Tech led the country with 90.3 plays per game last season. Arkansas ran 64.7 plays per game, 121 out of 125 FBS teams. Alabama was at 65.9, 116th in the country. Freeze said he was skeptical of the health risks presented by up-tempo offence because hes never seen any data to support the claim. "I would think they would have some type of study that proves that," he said. Rodriguez has been pushing the pace with his teams for more than two decades and doesnt buy safety concerns. "If that was the case wouldnt every team that went fast in practice have more injuries?" he said. The committee said "10 seconds provides sufficient time for defensive player substitutions without inhibiting the ability of an offence to play at a fast pace. Research indicated that teams with fast-paced, no-huddle offences rarely snap the ball with 30 seconds or more on the play clock." Freeze and Rodriguez both said their offences rarely get plays off within 10 seconds of the ball being spotted. "If they say its not occurring anyway, why put in a rule?" Freeze said. "I just dont really understand what we gain from this rule other than a chance to create more chaos." Its not just the up-tempo coaches who voiced their disapproval with the proposal. "I just spent two days at Big Ten meetings and it wasnt even brought up," Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said. "It doesnt make sense to me." The Scarlet Knights ranked 84th in the country in plays per game (71). Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville, a former defensive co-ordinator whose team averaged 78 plays per game (28th in the nation), said the proposal was never discussed during last months American Football Coaches of Association convention. "This came out of left field," he said. "Its wrong." Zack Wheeler Mets Jersey .Y. -- In a span of three days, Shabazz Napier and Connecticut knocked out both Philadelphia schools in the NCAA tournament. Keith Hernandez Mets Jersey . - The New Orleans Saints have re-signed receiver Joseph Morgan for one year and have agreed to a four-year deal with free agent fullback Erik Lorig. http://www.metssale.com/mets-jed-lowrie-jersey/ . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win. Keon Broxton Mets Jersey . The 23-year-old restricted free agent appeared in all 48 games last season, finishing second among all Sabres skaters with 15 goals and 34 points. Adeiny Hechavarria Mets Jersey . "Last year we were in a ton of situations, late-game situations we couldnt pull out. Wed kind of fold under the pressure, get frustrated or let a big shot frustrate us," guard DeMar DeRozan said.Chestnut Hill, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Jones poured in 28 points and Terry Rozier added 23 as No. 10 Louisville downed Boston College, 81-72, at Conte Forum. Montrezl Harrell posted 12 points and Wayne Blackshear had 10 points for the Cardinals (17-3, 5-2 ACC), who have won two in a row since losing to Duke. Ive got great memories here, said Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino, who returned to the area for the first time since his stint as Celtics bench boss ended in 2001. Wish things would have turned out better for me at the end. Aaron Brown led the way with a career-high 28 points for the Eagles (9-10, 1-6), with Patrick Heckmann and Olivier Hanlan adding 14 and 11 points, respectively, in defeat. Hanlan dished out nine assists. Boston College whittled a 10-point deficit down to one when Hanlin split two free throws to bring the hosts to 62-61 with 5:13 left in regulation. Jones shifted the momentum with a triple, and after Hanlin missed his trey, Jones fired again from long range and it was 68-61 with 3:29 remaining. You have to make those in those situations. You probably dont get another chance, Jones said. I knocked down the two biggest shots of the game. The Eagles twice pulled within five, the last time on a HHanlin layup for a 70-65 game, but Jones scored four in a row and the Cardinals led 74-65 with 52 seconds to play.dddddddddddd Blackshear scored five straight and Louisville led 8-2 early on. Will Magaritys dunk reduced the visitors deficit to 21-20, but Jones scored the final buckets of an 8-0 run lasting just over two minutes. Browns layup before the end of the half shrunk the Cardinals edge to 35-33 at the break. Roziers bucket provided a 43-35 edge with 3 1/2 minutes played in the second half, and though a Hanlan layup several minutes later made it 45-42, Rozier converted a 3 and Louisville was ahead by a comfortable 59-49 margin with 8:06 to play. I have never seen two guards play the amount of minutes they play, with the intensity they play for the entire game, BC head coach Jim Christian said of Rozier and Jones. Its really special to watch. Game Notes Jones shot 10-for-13 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc ... Brown was 10-of-22 overall and 5-of-12 from long range ... Louisville has won three of the four all-time meetings, and the programs tipped off in suburban Boston for the first time since the Eagles posted an 81-67 decision at Conte on Nov. 30, 1995. ' ' '