FAYETTEVILLE — NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved new rules for the 2020 college football season Tuesday.
Among the notable changes: the jersey No. 0 has been approved and players ejected for targeting no longer must leave the sideline. The panel also approved a guideline for game officials to conclude replay reviews in two minutes or less.
The jersey No. 0 was approved as part of a larger rule that stipulates no more than two players on a team can have the same jersey number. The panel acknowledged the popularity of single-digit jersey numbers in its release about the new rules.
“Allowing more than two players with the same number has created confusion for the game officials and made scouting opponents difficult,” according to the release.
The time limit for replays is an attempt to decrease game times, but the panel stopped short of mandating a two-minute rule, stating “reviews that are exceptionally complicated or involve end-of-game issues should be completed as efficiently as possible without a stated time limit.”
A frequent end-of-half replay scenario will be modified. If replay finds that time should be added to the game clock and the clock is set to restart on the referee’s signal, replay will only restore the clock to three seconds or more. If replay determines that less than three seconds remain on the game clock in either half, the half will be over.
Such a rule would have nullified the controversial field goal by Auburn at the end of the first half of its game against Alabama last season when the Tigers were without a timeout, but were able to run their field goal unit onto the field during a review of the clock following a tackle inbounds with one second remaining. Auburn won the game by three points.
The panel also approved for the officials’ jurisdiction to begin 90 minutes prior to a game instead of 60, and for a coach to be on the field at all times players are on the field for warmups. The proposal also calls for players to be identifiable by their number during warmups.
Prior to last season’s Belk Bowl, ESPN cameras showed a shirtless Kentucky starting quarterback Lynn Bowden throw a punch against a Virginia Tech player, but Bowden was allowed to play because the scuffle occurred more than 60 minutes before kickoff. Bowden accounted for three touchdowns, including the game winner with 15 seconds remaining.