[NU Sports] From the NFF - on the 10 second runoff.

[Roy S. Lamberton]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL OFFICIATING BY ROGERS REDDING, TODAY'S TOPIC: 10-SECOND RUNOFF


An important new rule in college football for 2011 is the 10-second runoff. This is a
special rule designed to prevent a team from gaining a clock advantage by committing a
foul near the end of a half. 

Here is how it works; suppose the game clock is running when either team commits a foul
that causes the clock to stop with less than one minute in the half. Part of the penalty
is to take 10 seconds off the clock, at the option of the offended team. They may want to
accept the yardage penalty and decline the 10-second runoff, and that is allowed. If the
yardage penalty is declined or if there are offsetting fouls then there is no 10-second
runoff. Also, if the team that commits the foul has any timeouts left they can avoid the
10-second runoff by burning a timeout. 

For example, with the clock running inside the last minute of the game, the offense is
about to snap the ball when one of its linemen jumps: false start, which stops the clock.
Suppose it shows 45 seconds left. If the defense chooses, 10 seconds will be taken off the
clock (in addition to the five-yard penalty), so the ball would be made ready for play
with 35 seconds left and the clock would start on the referee's signal. 

Note that if there had been fewer than 10 seconds left when the clock stopped then the
game would be over. 

Not all fouls include the runoff of time-only those that actually cause the clock to stop
immediately. For example, if a team snaps the ball from an illegal formation, there would
be no option to take time from the clock, because the play continues. The clock stops at
the end of the down only for administering the penalty. 

Periodically in Chalktalk, Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football
Officiating, will provide insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football
referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who
work games at the collegiate level.

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Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
Computer Applications & Support Associates
Coach Roy's Random Thoughts - http://coachroy.org
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"Commissioner" Delaware American Legion Baseball
Director Media Relations - Little League 
  Senior League Softball World Series
CTR2 USN (67-70) - CTRCS USNR (Ret) (64-67/70-95)
Northwestern University - Speech 1974 - 
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