NCAA closes loophole behind penalty that allowed Oregon State to burn the clock on Ohio State’s final drive

The National Coordinator of College Football Officials issued an interpretation of the rule Wednesday that aims to close the loophole that Oregon State exploited in its win over Ohio State by giving the offensive team the option to reset the game clock if the defense plays with 12 or more players in the final two minutes of any half.

On Saturday, Oregon State appeared to intentionally use 12 players in what proved to be the second-to-last play of its 32-31 win over the Buckeyes in an attempt to run down the clock. While the Ducks were penalized for the ensuing incomplete pass, the four seconds off the clock were more beneficial to Oregon State than the five-yard penalty to Ohio State.

The Buckeyes were still out of field goal range. They made another play, snapping the ball with six seconds left in the fourth quarter, but running out of time.

“Football is a very dynamic game,” Steve Shaw, coordinator of officials and NCAA secretary of rules editor, said in a statement. “Sometimes there are specific situations where committing a penalty kick can give a team an advantage. The NCAA Football Rules Committee guideline is that there should be no advantage when a team commits a penalty kick. The goal of this in-season interpretation is It is to remove a potential clock advantage for a substitution foul and take away any gains for the defense if they violate the substitution rule.

Using a previously approved rule intended to penalize teams for committing a “blatant and clearly unfair act intended to take time off the clock,” the Rules Committee approved a new interpretation of substitution fouls at the end of the game.

“After the two-minute time limit has expired in either half, if the defense commits a substitution foul and there are 12 or more players on the field and participate in the punt, the officials will penalize the defense for the foul based on the affected team’s choice,” Reset the game clock back to time shown in the shot,” the explanation reads. “The game clock will then restart for the next shot. If the 12th defender attempts to exit but is still on the field at the shot and has no impact on play, the normal substitution penalty will be applied without a clock adjustment.

The 5-yard penalty will be assessed regardless, but the option to reset the game clock will be determined by the violation. The idea behind it, Shaw said, is that there could be a situation late in the game where the offense determines that time off the clock is to its advantage.

The “blatant and obvious unfair action” rule (9-2-3 II) was developed in response to a defensive team deliberately trying to scoop the ball or passing tackle fouls late in games to burn time while trying to protect a lead. In this case, if the foul is deemed intentional, it will be upgraded to unsportsmanlike conduct from 15 yards out.

Shaw said the rules committee came to the conclusion that determining whether a team intentionally used 12 or more defensive players would be difficult for officials, and because resetting the clock was the most important element, it was not necessary to upgrade the illegal substitution foul. To unsportsmanlike behaviour.

“It is difficult to judge intent,” he said. The athlete.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning on Monday stopped short of confirming that the Ducks intentionally used a 12th defender in their penultimate game against Ohio State.

“We spend an inordinate amount of time in situations,” Lanning told reporters with a bit of a smirk on his face. “There are some situations that don’t come up very often in college football, but obviously that’s something we’ve worked on. So, you can see the result.”

Ohio State faced third-and-25 from the Oregon 43 with 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Ducks leading by one. Oregon State called a timeout but appeared to have difficulty getting its defensive personnel back on the field.

The play began with the Ducks’ 12 players on the field and resulted in an incomplete pass from Will Howard to a well-covered receiver. A 5-yard illegal substitution penalty gave Ohio State the ball at their 38 with 6 seconds left, still needing more yards to have a realistic chance at a field goal; Buckeyes kicker Jayden Fielding has a career-high 47 yards.

For Oregon, there was no downside to playing with 12 players. The Ducks gained the benefit of making it more difficult for Ohio State to gain more than the 15 yards it needed to get into more achievable field goal range while happily trading 5 yards for a few seconds off the clock. If Ohio State had stopped a big play against the 12-man defense, the Buckeyes could have refused the penalty and taken the result of the play.

The Buckeyes ran one more play, but Howard’s 12-yard scramble ended the game.

Lanning’s move drew mixed reactions from other coaches, including Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose team has come under scrutiny for faking injuries to players in an attempt to stop plays and disrupt the tempo of an opponent’s offense.

“I find all this national talk about someone (faking) an infection, and people shouldn’t do that, I’m not saying I don’t agree with them,” Kevin said. “But I found it interesting that everyone thought it was great that you deliberately broke the rules to put more people on the field, and then everyone gets angry when someone gets injured. I found it interesting.”

Alabama coach Calen DeBoer, who went 3-0 over Lanning in two seasons as Washington’s head coach, had praise for his former Pac-12 rival.

“Hats off to Coach Lanning for trying to find a way for his team to win and being creative in that way,” De Boer said.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who hired Lanning as an assistant for three years before Lanning became Oregon State’s head coach, sidestepped a question about whether the 12th man gimmick was something the Bulldogs had considered using.

“We try to be as detailed as possible to prepare, but it’s not something I’d rather comment on,” Smart said.

— The athleteSeth Emerson contributed reporting.

(Photo: Ali Gradisher/Getty Images)