August 14, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
Changes Miff Long
By Greg Archuleta, Journal Staff WriterCollege football coaches, players and fans should have more free time on Saturdays during the season, and University of New Mexico coach Rocky Long doesn't like it one bit.
The NCAA will institute a major rule change in 2008 that could eliminate 20 plays per college football game. College games will resemble NFL games with the implementation of a 40-second play clock that will start when the referee marks the spot upon the conclusion of the previous play — even when players take the ball out of bounds, make a first down or throw an incomplete pass.
Under former rules, the clock stopped on those occasions. Also, referees would mark the spot at the end of the play, collect the football and set it down for the next snap before signaling the start of a 25-second clock.
The old rules apply during the final two minutes of each half.
“I don't know why we're messing with the college game and trying to make it like the pro game,” Long says. “I'm sure it's because of TV so they can get a game done in a certain amount of time and go on to the next game. I don't like it.”
UNM offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin says offenses in college games averaged 72 plays per game last season, 62.75 in the NFL. More than nine plays per team could be wiped out by the new rule.
We as an offense have to play faster,” he says. “I think you're going to see a lot more no-huddle offenses. We're not a no-huddle offense because we're such a personnel- substitution offense, but we have to be a much faster- tempo offense.”
The rule should help defenses immensely, not only from a statistical standpoint with fewer plays. If tailback Rodney Ferguson were to break off a 50-yard run but not score a touchdown, the entire offense that includes five 300-pound linemen, have 40 seconds to hustle to the line of scrimmage and run the next play. Offensive linemen rarely substitute anymore in college football.
The defense, which readily substitutes players at all positions, can have all 11 players jog to the sidelines while fresh substitutes run onto the field.
“This is one rule that will help the defensive team,” Baldwin says. “But the other rules will help the offense.”
Such new rules include the implementation of a 15-yard penalty against the defense for making a horse-collar tackle, hitting a defenseless player above the shoulders and all face-mask infractions.
“I've never seen anybody hurt being taken down by a horse-collar tackle,” Long says. “And I saw the tape that they showed us in the coaches meetings about what hitting a defensive player was, and out of the six instances they had, I only agreed with one of them.
“They're trying to take collisions out of football, and that's what people like about the game. If I really believed the rules were going to prevent serious injuries, I'd be all for it.”
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE: UNM's defense dominated a goal-line scrimmage Wednesday morning. With the ball at the 5, the offense converted only two of 11 drives into touchdowns — both coming when the first-team offense went against the third-team defense.
Kicker Drew Zamora hit all five of his field-goal attempts during team-simulated drills, the farthest coming from 37 yards. James Aho went 4-for-6. He just missed a 49-yarder wide left at the end of the drill.
Punter Adam Miller hit all five of his punts at least 44 yards during a special teams drill. Deep snapper Jake Bowe was perfect on all his snaps to Miller, but when backups Matt Barnard and T.J. Tahti entered, Bowe bounced two on the ground and sent one overhead.
End Kendall Briscoe and nose tackle Jeremiah Lovato practiced with the first-team defensive line, in place of Phillip Harrison and Wesley Beck.
Starting left tackle Sylvester Hatten, who suffered a mild concussion earlier in fall camp, left in the middle of Wednesday morning's practice, complaining of headaches. Ivan Hernandez took his place.
DE DeAndre Davis has missed the past three days of practice to go home to Mississippi, where he became a father. Lobo back Louis Beal returned to practice Wednesday after dealing with an academic issue. Safety Mica Williams was sick and did not practice. Safety Bubba Forrest and cornerback Alex Bustos were sidelined with hamstring pulls.
EYE ON THE MWC: A post on MWCBoard.com said TCU had sold its allotment of tickets for the season opener against UNM on Aug. 30, which sounded impressive until Lobo media relations director Greg Remington revealed the allotment consisted of 200 tickets.
Air Force senior tight end Travis Dekker, a La Cueva High graduate, suffered a slight fracture in his right ankle last week in practice and is expected to miss eight weeks.