Let me start off by prefacing that my upcoming point isn’t about protecting a specific team.
USC’s Pete Carroll holds on to all of his timeouts in the second half of the Trojans 13-9 loss to UCLA on Saturday. USC drives down to the Bruins 18 yard line before quarterback John David Booty is intercepted with 1:10 left in the game. Good thing Carroll hung on to all three timeouts right? Well it doesn’t matter since the damn clock runs as soon as the ref spots the ball on a change of possession. So Carroll has to burn one of his timeouts so that UCLA doesn’t run 25 seconds off the clock. A play isn’t even run and USC is forced to call a timeout. Then, the Trojans stop the Bruins on three straight plays, but the clock continues to run on third and fourth down because USC is now out of timeouts. The end result is that the Trojans are left with just three seconds once they finally get the ball back.
This is just one example of how terrible the new clock rules are in college football. There were many examples to choose from throughout the year. I saw one game this year where a team was able to run almost two minutes off the game clock without even having to pick up a first down. I understand that the NCAA is trying to speed up the game, but how does it make any sense to start the clock on a change of possession? What is the reward for a team that makes it through a second half with all of its timeouts intact? If you want to save time, don’t go to a commercial every time a team scores and then go right back to a break after the ensuing kickoff. If you want to save time, don’t stop the clock after a team makes a first down, ala the NFL.
Just don’t take away from a potentially dramatic finish because a team that’s in the lead can milk the clock for 15 minutes without having to run a play.
