With the new season about to start, a few new tweaks were added to the NCAA Football Rule Book. One is a rule borrowed from the NFL that involves penalties in the final minute of each half. Teams will now be given the option of including a 10-second runoff with the penalty being assessed, or decline both the penalty and the runoff. I've always loved this rule because a defensive penalty that stops the clock for a team that is down in the game will take time away from any potential comeback. There is no way anyone can complain here, though I feel like it should begin at the two-minute warning so there's a better time boundary in place. However, there are a few new rule tweaks that I have major questions about.
Taunting clearly has no place in the game at any level. It's childish and just embarrasses the player who does it more than it does the opponent. However, some of these rules are flirting with celebrating to the point that the NCAA will be breeding emotionless players, and others mess with legit game strategy. Go to this article and fast forward the video to "Unsportsmanlike 13" (about 3/4 of the way in and watch through the end:
The Oklahoma State player is pretty much guaranteed to score, so he runs along the 1-yard line to waste some time off the clock. The problem is that this happened in the first quarter and is considered taunting. I completely agree in this situation that it is the right call. The new rule with live-ball taunting penalties is that they will be 15-yards from the spot of the foul. In this example, it the ball would be brought back to the 16-yard line. However, what is the call going to be if this happens in the final minutes of either half? Would DeSean Jackson's punt return have been negated? I get the strategy and would tell any player to do it at the end of a half, but do they now have to run it in and leave an extra 5 seconds on the clock for a kickoff and return to occur. I get what they are trying to do here, but if it takes away the similar play at the end of the game, it needs to be corrected.
In the next clip, we see a nice hit by the FSU player, and he celebrates the hit. It's not like he stood over the player and danced in his face. They make it seem like he had a routine planned for this. The guy might be a special team-er who never sees the field and finally made a play, anyone would enjoy the moment. To call a personal foul for that seems ridiculous. You want the athletes to make a play and run off the field like it was routine. This is a game, not an office, so let the kids enjoy themselves a bit. It's not like the player did the throat slash move!
I'm split on my stance for the last clip. The player does your average end-zone flip over the goal-line when he scores the touchdown, and it is to be penalized as a dead-ball unsportsmanlike penalty. Part of me feels like it is a tad over the top here. Do you really need to flip into the end-zone? Of course not. But is this really taunting? It just seems like another instance of creating the emotionless player who cannot celebrate any success. Give the kid a break and let him enjoy the big play for a few seconds. If he does a dance after the flip, then he's probably showboating a bit and should be flagged. But he just gets up and is met by teammates before they walk off. So clearly the next time someone high-steps or dives into the end-zone, be ready to see a 15-yard penalty and the potential for a loss of the score.
In the end, just let them play. If it is meant to be offensive to someone or inappropriate, then go ahead and flag them. A player turns around and walks backwards into the end-zone just to face the defender, then he probably deserves the penalty. But you're seriously starting to limit the pleasure of playing the game when can't even take a second to enjoy the big play you just made. Way to start turning into the No Fun League NCAA!
So what's your take... do you let the player have a second to celebrate a big play, or do you want a calm reaction by the playmaker?
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