College football will look a little different for the 2023 season.
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved changes Friday that will allow the clock to run after the first downs, except on Division III – starting next season, the NCAA announced.
A Pac 12 conference TV timeout clock is seen during a game between the Stanford Cardinal and the USC Trojans at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on September 11, 2021. (Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The clock will stop for the last two minutes of each half after the first downs.
DARTMOUTH FOOTBALL COACH BUDDY TEEVENS HAS LEG AMPUTATED, SUFFERED SPINAL CORD INJURY AFTER BICYCLE ACCIDENT
«That’s important,» said Steve Shaw, NCAA secretary rules editor and coordinator of officials, «because of the beauty of the difference in our game, and it allows a team late in the game, even without timeouts, to have the opportunity to advance the ball and come back and that kind of thing. So we’re still I’m going to stop him in the last two minutes.»
The college football tradition has been for the clock to stop after the first few downs until the chains are attached, separating from the nfl game.
A down scoreboard shows the first down during the game between the Memphis Tigers and the UTSA Roadrunners at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee on September 25, 2021. (Chris McDill/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Two other changes were also approved Friday, as teams will not be able to call consecutive timeouts and penalties will be assessed at the end of the first and third quarters on the first play of the following quarter.
The changes are expected to shorten games by seven to eight minutes, according to ESPN.
«We have to live it to see if it really does that or is more or less,» Shaw said, according to the ESPN report. «So it’s a minimal change, and I think it’s a good change in direction for the game. We look at the number of plays and Division I is averaging 178, 179 plays per game, all divisions are in the 170s, and you compare that to 151 snaps last year per game in the NFL. It’s something we have to look at. It’s a conservative step, and we’ll see what this does for the year.»
The SEC logo is visible on the yard marker and first down marker during the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia on September 21, 2019. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Friday’s rule changes are just the latest in college football, with Name, image and likeness (NIL) rules now allows players to be compensated as student-athletes.
NIL, together with the transfer portal, has highly impacted recruiting in the last two years, with players who, at least in part, chose where to play based on how much they can earn during their college careers.