Will the 3 new proposed NCAA rules impact the Tennessee Vols' offense?
There are several new proposed NCAA rules that could be put in place in 2023
The Tennessee Vols had the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation in 2022.
And the expectation is that Tennessee will have one of the top offenses in the nation again in 2023.
At this point, it seems like the only thing that can slow down the Vols' potent offense is Georgia's elite pass rush or a rule change.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is already complaining about Tennessee's offense, recently suggesting to Sports Illustrated that it could be a player safety issue.
“When a team can snap the ball within seven seconds of the [play] clock, is that really good for player safety?” said Saban. “I’m just asking the question.”
This is nothing new from Saban — he was complaining about Auburn's no-huddle offense under Gus Malzahn 10 years ago. And he was never able to talk the NCAA into a rule change. I doubt he gets his way this time, either.
There are, however, some proposed rule changes that are likely coming to college football in 2023.
On April 20, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel will vote on several new rules that are being considered in an effort to speed up college football games.
- Teams would be prohibited from calling consecutive team timeouts.
- Penalties at the end of the first and third quarter would carry over and be enforced on the first play of the next quarter.
- The game clock will continue to run when a first down is gained. Currently, the game clock stops when a first down is gained, and the clock restarts when the offense is awarded a first down. The game clock will continue to be stopped when a first down is gained during the last two minutes of either half
None of these rules should impact the Vols in any way. The first two proposals won't come into play very often (I'm not sure how not allowing consecutive timeouts will help — each team has three timeouts per half. When and how they're used won't change the length of the game).
The only rule that could even possibly have an impact would be the clock not running on first downs. But even that won't really have an impact on Tennessee because their goal isn't to run as many plays as possible. They use tempo to create mismatches and disrupt the defense's plan. It'll be business as usual for the Vols' offense, regardless of whether or not the clock stops after a first down.
I'd be surprised if any rules that seriously impact Tennessee's offensive style are ever considered. The last thing the NCAA wants to do is take action and scoring out of the game. These new rule proposals are simply to prevent games from lasting four hours, not to slow down offenses.
