https://www.espn.com/college-footba...s-rule-changes-combat-players-faking-injuries
NCAA approves rule changes to combat players faking injuries
In an effort to curtail players faking injuries, a concern that has permeated throughout college football for years, the NCAA announced Thursday that its Playing Rules Oversight Panel has approved changes to the injury timeout rules starting this fall.
Under the new rule approved Wednesday, if medical personnel enter the field to evaluate an injured player after the ball is spotted by the officiating crew for the next play, that player's team will be charged a timeout. If the team doesn't have any timeouts remaining, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed.
The proposal to adjust the injury timeout rule resulted from teams faking injuries to stop their opponents' momentum or avoid using an allotted timeout.
Prior to the 2021 season, the NCAA decided to allow schools or conferences to request that Steve Shaw, the NCAA secretary-rules editor/national coordinator of officials, conduct a postgame video review regarding questionable actions involving injuries.
If Shaw determined that a player had faked an injury to manipulate the rules, the offending team's conference was notified, and any possible disciplinary action could be made by the conference office.
The rule change for next season will provide an in-game way to curtail the faking of injuries because "Football Rules Committee members think these actions negatively affect the overall perception of the game," according to the NCAA's release.
Shaw told ESPN he will continue to review film if asked, but his role is not to determine if a player was actually hurt -- it's to decipher if a team took advantage of an injury timeout to gain an "unmerited advantage." Shaw said on average, he was asked to review just over one per week.
Breaking News from Heather Dinich
Download the ESPN app and enable
Heather Dinich's news alerts to receive push notifications for the latest updates first. Opt in by tapping the alerts bell in the top right corner. For more information,
click here.
The rules committee put together a nine-minute video of moments that could have been construed as feigning injuries from last season, and Shaw said the video illustrates "an integrity issue in our game that needs to be addressed."
"When you watch that video, action is required," Shaw said. "Sometimes players may do it on their own because it feels accepted, and that's what we want to stop. I'm not sure there is a perfect solution, but I think this is a good first step. This will have impact to those that are very obvious and are late and looking to the sideline and going down. Coaches do not want to risk a timeout under any circumstances. Those are very valuable commodities in the game."
If it doesn't have impact, Shaw said, there will probably be another step, but "it's a good starting point and hopefully this will clean it up."
The panel on Wednesday also approved a rule change regarding overtime timeouts. If a game reaches a third overtime, each team will have one timeout beginning with the third overtime until somebody wins. Previously, each team had one timeout for each overtime period.
At the start of the third overtime, teams alternate running two-point plays until there's a winner. The intent is to keep the action moving once a game reaches the third overtime.
The panel also approved some other tweaks:
• Referees will only say a call on the field is "upheld" or "overturned." The terms "confirmed" and "stands" will no longer be used on instant replay decisions.
• No offensive player can be in the direct line of the snap to the potential kicker or within the frame of the snapper on punts for the formation to qualify as a scrimmage kick formation. If a team is not in scrimmage kick formation, it must have five players numbered 50 through 79 on the line of scrimmage. Additionally, if the snapper is on the end of the line by formation, the snapper will lose scrimmage kick protection, and the opposition can line a player over the snapper.
• If any player on a kickoff return team makes a "T" signal with his arms during the kick, the team gives up the right to return the kick, and the play will be whistled dead.
• Enhanced rules regarding simulating action at the snap and words or signals that distract opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play will also be effective next season. No player can call defensive signals that simulate the sound or cadence of the offensive signals. The defensive terms "move" and "stem" would be reserved for players on that side of the ball and could not be used by the offense.
• After the two-minute timeout in either half, if the defense commits a foul with 12 or more players on the field and all the players participate in the play, the officials will administer a 5-yard penalty. The offensive team would have the option to reset the game clock back to the time at the start of the play. If the 12th player is attempting to leave the field and has no influence on the play, the defensive team will be penalized 5 yards with no adjustment to the game clock.
• Coach-to-player communication, similar to technology implemented for the FBS last year, will be allowed for teams that compete in the FCS.
