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https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...-second-runoff-rule-ncaa-clock-penalty-injury
This rule is designed to prevent a team from gaining an unfair late advantage. It requires three things to happen.
by Cyd Zeigler@CydZeigler <time class="c-byline__item" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" abp="1120" data-ui="timestamp"> Oct 19, 2017, 11:58pm EDT
Maybe you?ve been there before.
With a minute left in the fourth quarter, an official throws a penalty flag during an incomplete pass, and one of your buddies tries to impress you with his knowledge of the game by talking about the 10 seconds that are about to disappear from the game clock.
Except he couldn't be more wrong.
There's a misconception by many fans that the option of a 10-second runoff comes with every penalty in the final minute of the game.
Like many rules, the runoff is more complicated than that.
The 10-second runoff option exists to prevent one team from taking advantage of its own penalty or injury by stopping the clock without using a timeout. If the game has 10 or fewer seconds left, a runoff can end the game. A team can also spend a timeout to prevent a 10-second runoff. It works the same way in college and the NFL.
In the NCAA?s football rulebook, Rule 3.3.5f sums up 90 percent of it pretty clearly while describing one potential instance of its application:
Simple, right? Here?s where it gets more complex.
For the 10-second runoff rule to be activated, you need three things:
For example, if the offense throws a legal forward pass to tight end No. 88 and he drops it, we have no potential for a run-off because everything is kosher. However, if the passer throws to No. 66 (and there is no one eligible in the area) and he drops it, the clock stops by illegal means (as No. 66 is ineligible) ? The offense will be penalized and the defense will have the option of a 10-second runoff.
If the foul itself doesn?t cause the clock to stop (as in illegal forward pass), but the administration of the penalty causes it to stop (as in holding), there is no run-off.
They just can?t make this stuff easy.
Also eligible for a runoff: a false start, snap infraction, or other dead-ball foul that prevents the next play from starting.
If the clock is running at the time of the foul, there is a runoff option, because the foul is the reason the clock stopped.
If, however, the clock is not running ? because of a previous incomplete pass, timeout, or what have you ? there is no runoff option.
Each of these elements was highlighted in 2016?s LSU-Auburn game.
In that game, LSU ostensibly lost because it didn?t get off a last-second snap in time for an ensuing touchdown to count. But it could?ve been much more complicated.
On the play before, LSU had a wide receiver who was never fully set before the snap. The receiver was flagged for a live-ball illegal shift, which isn?t among the penalties that carries a runoff. But by rule, the receiver never lining up should?ve converted the penalty to a false start, which does carry a runoff option. The game should have already been over, because that play started in the last 10 seconds.
Trying to put the rule as simply as possible:
If a foul, helmet removal, or injury in the final minute of a half stops the clock, there's a 10-second runoff option for the opponent. Otherwise, there is no option.
Unless, of course, the foul is for intentional grounding, or something else intended to illegally stop the clock. Yes, the rulebooks are full of exceptions, and exceptions to exceptions. But if you stick to the above statement, you will be OK most of the time.
</time>
This rule is designed to prevent a team from gaining an unfair late advantage. It requires three things to happen.
by Cyd Zeigler@CydZeigler <time class="c-byline__item" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; box-sizing: border-box;" abp="1120" data-ui="timestamp"> Oct 19, 2017, 11:58pm EDT
Maybe you?ve been there before.
With a minute left in the fourth quarter, an official throws a penalty flag during an incomplete pass, and one of your buddies tries to impress you with his knowledge of the game by talking about the 10 seconds that are about to disappear from the game clock.
Except he couldn't be more wrong.
There's a misconception by many fans that the option of a 10-second runoff comes with every penalty in the final minute of the game.
Like many rules, the runoff is more complicated than that.
The 10-second runoff option exists to prevent one team from taking advantage of its own penalty or injury by stopping the clock without using a timeout. If the game has 10 or fewer seconds left, a runoff can end the game. A team can also spend a timeout to prevent a 10-second runoff. It works the same way in college and the NFL.
In the NCAA?s football rulebook, Rule 3.3.5f sums up 90 percent of it pretty clearly while describing one potential instance of its application:
If the player injury is the only reason for stopping the clock (other than his or a teammate's helmet coming off, Rule 3-3-9) with less than one minute in the half, the opponent has the option of a 10-second runoff.
Mind you, that?s just the rule as it pertains to injury timeouts, but it offers the general sentiment of the larger set of rules governing these runoffs. If a player stays down injured, the other team can choose to take 10 seconds off the clock.
Simple, right? Here?s where it gets more complex.
For the 10-second runoff rule to be activated, you need three things:
- You need one of these: an injury timeout, a player's helmet coming off during a play (and not due to a foul), or an accepted penalty for one of a number of fouls. (If the penalty yardage is declined, the runoff is also declined). However, if any of these happen to both teams on the same play, there is not an option for a runoff.
- The incident in question has to happen in the last minute of a half. There cannot be a runoff in the other 58 minutes of the game. The final minutes of the first and third quarters do not qualify.
- Most complicated: the injury, helmet issue, or foul has to be the only reason the clock stopped. If the clock is not running when the foul occurs, there is no runoff.
For example, if the offense throws a legal forward pass to tight end No. 88 and he drops it, we have no potential for a run-off because everything is kosher. However, if the passer throws to No. 66 (and there is no one eligible in the area) and he drops it, the clock stops by illegal means (as No. 66 is ineligible) ? The offense will be penalized and the defense will have the option of a 10-second runoff.
If the foul itself doesn?t cause the clock to stop (as in illegal forward pass), but the administration of the penalty causes it to stop (as in holding), there is no run-off.
They just can?t make this stuff easy.
Also eligible for a runoff: a false start, snap infraction, or other dead-ball foul that prevents the next play from starting.
If the clock is running at the time of the foul, there is a runoff option, because the foul is the reason the clock stopped.
If, however, the clock is not running ? because of a previous incomplete pass, timeout, or what have you ? there is no runoff option.
Each of these elements was highlighted in 2016?s LSU-Auburn game.
In that game, LSU ostensibly lost because it didn?t get off a last-second snap in time for an ensuing touchdown to count. But it could?ve been much more complicated.
On the play before, LSU had a wide receiver who was never fully set before the snap. The receiver was flagged for a live-ball illegal shift, which isn?t among the penalties that carries a runoff. But by rule, the receiver never lining up should?ve converted the penalty to a false start, which does carry a runoff option. The game should have already been over, because that play started in the last 10 seconds.
Trying to put the rule as simply as possible:
If a foul, helmet removal, or injury in the final minute of a half stops the clock, there's a 10-second runoff option for the opponent. Otherwise, there is no option.
Unless, of course, the foul is for intentional grounding, or something else intended to illegally stop the clock. Yes, the rulebooks are full of exceptions, and exceptions to exceptions. But if you stick to the above statement, you will be OK most of the time.
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