Dave Paschall with the Chattanooga Free Press discussed the new 40/25 second play clock rules in Sunday's paper. As you may have heard by now, the rule basically works like this (per the Free Press)
In February, the NCAA Football Rules Committee voted to implement a 40/25-second play clock similar to what the NFL employs. Instead of using a 25-second clock that doesn’t start until officials mark the ball ready for play, college football will now use a 40-second clock that will start at the end of the preceding play.Most coaches think the rule change favors teams spread offenses who have a natural predisposition to go no huddle anyway.
The 25-second clock still will be used on the first play following a change of possession, as well as after penalties, measurements and timeouts.
Richt's specific comments were interesting
“Seven years ago, I would have been thrilled about it,” Richt said. “My ambition was to play as fast as we could possibly play and run the no-huddle and get to the line of scrimmage as fast as possible and get the ball snapped in a hurry and run as many plays as possible. We were not allowed to do that.If his preference is to move faster, then let's go. No reason not to bring that aggressive tempo to Athens.
“In my opinion, the officials in this league were more deliberate than in any league I had been. The SEC, to me, was grinding it to a halt. Now, all of a sudden, you can play as fast as you want to play.”
My one concern with this rule change is the impact on Georgia's defense. It seemed that we struggled a bit last year when the other team's offense went to an aggressive no huddle tempo. I believe it was Troy and UK that created some issues for the Dawgs when they accelerated their pace.
Do you think we'll move faster next year between plays?
See Also:
-- Go, Go, Go, Go - Blutarsky
-- Does the rules committee hate football - SMQ
-- Not to belabor the point but... - SMQ
PWD
