A little change of pace from the current discussion on here, but I wanted to discuss one rule that I find to be incredibly stupid and really needs to be changed. I realize with that blanket statement, you could probably come up with quite a few things that would fit that; like targeting for instance, but what I'm talking about is something that really doesn't come up very often, and may not be quite as obvious on how it can affect the outcome of a game, but it's come up at least twice that I know of this year, and in both situations didn't end up changing the outcome, but very well could have.
The rule I'm talking about is the 10-second run off, or more specifically what prevents a 10-second run off from happening. This came up in the Peach Bowl yesterday, near the end of the game; and also came up at the beginning of the season, in the game against Arkansas State. In both situations, something happened that would normally cause the clock to stop; and in both situations, that something happened in the last minute of a half. With the way the 10-second run off rule works, basically anything that happens in the last minute of a half that would normally stop the clock; like an injury, player losing his helmet, penalty, etc.; causes 10 seconds to be run off the clock, to prevent teams from faking injury, or purposely committing penalties or losing their helmet to stop the clock. This applies, unless the clock is already stopped for another reason, like an incomplete pass, player going out of bounds, etc... Also, if the team that committed the penalty or had an injury or whatever, has a timeout to give, they can also use that to prevent the run off.
This all makes logical sense, to prevent teams from doing something to stop the clock, the 10-second run off is in place, but can be prevented if there is no logical reason the team would be doing something specifically to stop the clock (basically if the clock was already stopped for one of a few reasons, or if there is a timeout available.) What does NOT make logical sense, and is the situation that is referenced in both the Peach Bowl and Arkansas State game, is a 10-second run off being prevented because the clock is stopped for a first down. This happened in the Peach Bowl, when the Auburn player was injured; and in the Arkansas State game when the player "lost" his helmet. In both situations, a run off was prevented, because the teams had just made a first down.
This makes absolutely zero logical sense. Most rules in football, though not all, generally at least have some sense of logic behind them; sometimes it might be fairly twisted logic, but still there is logic to the rule. The logic behind a false start being a penalty, for instance, is pretty straight forward. Faking the start of a play would be unfair, because it could draw the defense offside, or make it harder for them to determine when the play is actually starting, and slow them down. There could be an argument for whether or not someone's shoulder barely twitching should be counted as a false start, but in general, the penalty makes logical sense.
On the other hand, stopping a 10-second run off becuase the clock is stopped due to a first down makes zero logical sense. All other situations that can prevent the run off; player going out of bounds, incomplete pass or calling a timeout; are all things that would PERMANENTLY stop the clock, until the next play is ran. A first down is something that only stops the clock long enough to reset the chains, and then the clock is immediately restarted. By stopping the the run off this way, you essentially afford a team a way to get a free timeout; all you have to do is make a first down; then you can have someone fake an injury or something, and instead of only getting a clock stoppage long enough to run up to the LOS and get a quick play off, you get plenty of time to call a play and rest.
I'm not saying the Auburn player in the Peach Bowl yesterday faked his injury; it certainly looked real, but that doesn't really matter. They were still afforded a free timout they otherwise would not have gotten, solely for getting a first down, and stopping the clock for a few seconds. The radio commentators for the game yesterday actually commented on the stupidity of that rule too. In the situation yesterday, it may not have ended up mattering anyway, and it didn't end up mattering because the INT was thrown on the next play; but it easily could have mattered, in a situation where even 1 extra second could be the difference between game over and one final play to score a TD.
The situation in the ASU game, on the other hand, did directly have an impact on the game. ASU was afforded the opportunity to kick a field goal they never would have otherwise been able to get off, because a player "lost" his helmet. Without that field goal, when ASU is driving at the end of the game, instead of driving to possibly tie the game, they are simply driving to make the score look more respectable, since they would have had to score twice in a very short period of time, since they would have been down by 10, instead of 7. Of course in the refs had done their job properly, and penalized the ASU player for removing his helmet in the field of play, this would all be a moot point; but the discussion about refs doing their jobs properly is for another thread, with a 30 page dissertation by me.
The rule I'm talking about is the 10-second run off, or more specifically what prevents a 10-second run off from happening. This came up in the Peach Bowl yesterday, near the end of the game; and also came up at the beginning of the season, in the game against Arkansas State. In both situations, something happened that would normally cause the clock to stop; and in both situations, that something happened in the last minute of a half. With the way the 10-second run off rule works, basically anything that happens in the last minute of a half that would normally stop the clock; like an injury, player losing his helmet, penalty, etc.; causes 10 seconds to be run off the clock, to prevent teams from faking injury, or purposely committing penalties or losing their helmet to stop the clock. This applies, unless the clock is already stopped for another reason, like an incomplete pass, player going out of bounds, etc... Also, if the team that committed the penalty or had an injury or whatever, has a timeout to give, they can also use that to prevent the run off.
This all makes logical sense, to prevent teams from doing something to stop the clock, the 10-second run off is in place, but can be prevented if there is no logical reason the team would be doing something specifically to stop the clock (basically if the clock was already stopped for one of a few reasons, or if there is a timeout available.) What does NOT make logical sense, and is the situation that is referenced in both the Peach Bowl and Arkansas State game, is a 10-second run off being prevented because the clock is stopped for a first down. This happened in the Peach Bowl, when the Auburn player was injured; and in the Arkansas State game when the player "lost" his helmet. In both situations, a run off was prevented, because the teams had just made a first down.
This makes absolutely zero logical sense. Most rules in football, though not all, generally at least have some sense of logic behind them; sometimes it might be fairly twisted logic, but still there is logic to the rule. The logic behind a false start being a penalty, for instance, is pretty straight forward. Faking the start of a play would be unfair, because it could draw the defense offside, or make it harder for them to determine when the play is actually starting, and slow them down. There could be an argument for whether or not someone's shoulder barely twitching should be counted as a false start, but in general, the penalty makes logical sense.
On the other hand, stopping a 10-second run off becuase the clock is stopped due to a first down makes zero logical sense. All other situations that can prevent the run off; player going out of bounds, incomplete pass or calling a timeout; are all things that would PERMANENTLY stop the clock, until the next play is ran. A first down is something that only stops the clock long enough to reset the chains, and then the clock is immediately restarted. By stopping the the run off this way, you essentially afford a team a way to get a free timeout; all you have to do is make a first down; then you can have someone fake an injury or something, and instead of only getting a clock stoppage long enough to run up to the LOS and get a quick play off, you get plenty of time to call a play and rest.
I'm not saying the Auburn player in the Peach Bowl yesterday faked his injury; it certainly looked real, but that doesn't really matter. They were still afforded a free timout they otherwise would not have gotten, solely for getting a first down, and stopping the clock for a few seconds. The radio commentators for the game yesterday actually commented on the stupidity of that rule too. In the situation yesterday, it may not have ended up mattering anyway, and it didn't end up mattering because the INT was thrown on the next play; but it easily could have mattered, in a situation where even 1 extra second could be the difference between game over and one final play to score a TD.
The situation in the ASU game, on the other hand, did directly have an impact on the game. ASU was afforded the opportunity to kick a field goal they never would have otherwise been able to get off, because a player "lost" his helmet. Without that field goal, when ASU is driving at the end of the game, instead of driving to possibly tie the game, they are simply driving to make the score look more respectable, since they would have had to score twice in a very short period of time, since they would have been down by 10, instead of 7. Of course in the refs had done their job properly, and penalized the ASU player for removing his helmet in the field of play, this would all be a moot point; but the discussion about refs doing their jobs properly is for another thread, with a 30 page dissertation by me.
