FAYETTEVILLE - When the NCAA rules committee adopted the new clock rules for 2008, the expectation was for the rules to have little impact on the game time or the number of plays. Boy, were they wrong. Data compiled by the SEC through the first five weeks shows the average time for games involving SEC teams is down 12 minutes, from an average of 3: 23 in 2007 to 3: 11 this season. The national average is 3: 09.

The average number of plays is also down across the board. A national survey after Week 1 conducted by cfbstats. com and the thewizofodds. com revealed an average of 134. 7 plays per game, 8. 7 fewer plays per game than the 2007 average of 143. 4. Some SEC coaches, including rookie Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino, are stridently opposed to the new rules.

"I don't like it," he said. "The game's at an all-time high. You see these great comebacks, all the excitement, and they keep trying to shorten the game. I just don't like it at all."

Petrino's opponent Saturday, Florida Coach Urban Meyer, sounds just as adamantly opposed to the new rules.

"My concerns are always when people want to change college football into some other [game ], whether it's the National Football League, and I can't disagree more," he said.

Meyer calculated that his team had run about 170 plays through three games this year compared to close to 200 at this point in 2007.

The clock rules have been changed each of the past three seasons, another reason for angst among coaches.

"I just wish they would settle on a good, quality format that would not change the college game significantly," LSU Coach Les Miles said. "It appears to be there's a serious reduction in snaps.... The length of the game really qualifies your ability to demonstrate the difference between your team and the other, and if you have a shorter duration, there's a different test."

The NCAA's tinkering with clock rules - in the interest of reducing game times for broadcast networks - started in 2006. That's when the NCAA mandated the game clock would start at the ready-for-play signal after changes of possession, and at the instant a ball is kicked off, as opposed to when the receiving team touches it.

Those measures reduced the amount of game times by an average of 14 minutes and cut out an average of 13. 2 plays per game from the 2005 averages. The changes were deemed "an overreaction to game length that had a negative impact on college football," Michael Clark, chairman of the current rules committee and coach at Bridgewater (Va. ) College, said in an interview with thewizofodds. com. The clock rules were reinstated to their 2005 norms for the 2007 season, and the result was an increase by two minutes and 2. 7 plays per game over the 2005 averages, based on a study by cfbstats. com. The NCAA decided this

sea-40 son to adopt the / 25 format for the clock. Instead of the referee signaling the start of the 25-second play clock on all plays, as had been done in the past, a 40-second clock begins as soon as the dead-ball signal is given from the previous play.

The 25-second clock comes into play only for administrative stoppages, such as after penalties, for timeouts, injured players, reviewed plays and the like.

Another change is that when a player runs out of bounds, except for the last two minutes of each half, the clock is restarted on the ready-for-play signal from the referee.

SEC coordinator of officials Rogers Redding told the Birmingham News earlier this season that the number of plays and the time of games was "down some [and ] I don't think that's unexpected given the rule change."

The change in the "feel" of the game has some coaches rankled.

"When you run out of bounds and [the clock ] doesn't stop, oh gosh, it can go fast," South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said.

"It shortens the game considerably, [and ] plays are down considerably," Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer said. "I didn't know it would, but it does make a difference."

After several SEC coaches expressed their dislike of the new clock rules last week, Alabama Coach Nick Saban said Monday he didn't see a reason for all the fuss.

"What does it matter ?" Saban asked. "Does it change how you go into the game thinking I'm only getting 68 plays as opposed to 80 plays ?

" No, it really doesn't change much as far as how you approach the game at all. It hasn't changed our thinking on it at all. When you're ahead, the clock never goes fast enough; when you're behind, you never have enough time."

Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville, a former member of the NCAA rules committee, said he hasn't noticed a difference with the new rules.

"It hasn't made a big impact," he said. "I think it's shortened the game a little bit.... I thought it'd be a lot more of an impact, but it really hasn't changed much for us."

With fewer offensive snaps, one area of the game has taken on added importance.

"It certainly puts an emphasis on the kicking game and plays in the kicking game," Fulmer said. "It puts an emphasis on taking advantage of your opportunities because you're only going to have so many possessions in a game. From an offensive standpiont, you'd rather not be limited that much."

Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks, who has a background on defense, is an advocate for the new clock guidelines.

"I liked it two years ago, and they changed it back last year," Brooks said. "They definitely need to leave this one alone for at least another year before the offensive gurus in college football get so upset they want to add more plays and time back on the clock."

Brooks stressed the wear and tear on athletes as one of the key reasons he likes the new rules.

"It increases injury, fatigue and those types of things," he said. "If you look at the NFL, they have 70 snaps in a game.... There were times last year where we had 90-plus snaps. We had 80 several times and we always had 70.

" There have been some games this year where we had under 70. I don't see anything wrong with that."

Petrino does.

His Razorbacks are averaging 65. 8 offensive plays per game, with a high of 77 against Alabama and a low of 54 in last week's lopsided loss at Texas.

"I don't like the fact the clock starts when you go out of bounds when the ball is ready to play," he said. "I don't like the 40-second clock. You can see people working the heck out of that."

Petrino pointed out an example where the 40-second clock didn't seem practical. After Arkansas tight end D. J. Williams gained 76 yards on a crossing route in the fourth quarter against Louisiana-Monroe, the play clock was activated with players from both teams still streaming down the field and the chain gang racing to get in position.

"By the time we got down there and all the officials got down there and the chain crew got down there, you looked up and there was 8 seconds to go," he said. "We looked up and had to call a timeout."

Petrino also contends there won't be as many overtime games or amazing comebacks, though his team has already won two games with late drives in the fourth quarter. Clock talk Based on comments they have made this season, here are the opinions of SEC coaches on the new 40 / 25 clock rules enacted for 2008.

STRONGLY OPPOSED Bobby Petrino, Arkansas Urban Meyer, Florida Mark Richt, Georgia MODERATELY OPPOSED Les Miles, LSU Steve Spurrier, South Carolina Phil Fulmer, Tennessee Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt RELATIVELY NEUTRAL Nick Saban, Alabama MODERATELY IN FAVOR Tommy Tuberville, Auburn

STRONGLY IN FAVOR Rich Brooks, Kentucky