INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday approved several new football measures that will address teams that appear to fake injuries during a game, targeting appeals in the second half and limit blocking below the waist.
The committee met to discuss several rule changes proposed back in March.
One of the major changes coming for the 2022 season: Measures will be taken to investigate and address teams that appear to be faking injuries for an advantage during games.
The committee considered several in-game options, including changing the timeout rule to remove injured players for more than one play. However, it ultimately ended up approving a post-game option that will let schools and conferences report "questionable scenarios" to the NCAA national coordinator of officials, who will review and provide feedback to the conference for further action. The conference or school involved would be the one to levy any penalties.
The NCAA said members debated the issue at length but opted not to go with the proposed timeout rule over concerns it would create other issues, such as encouraging players to continue playing while injured.
"We considered all options to address this issue, including allowing both teams an opportunity to substitute after a first down," said David Shaw, chair of the Football Rules Committee and coach at Stanford. "This is another step to consider in the future."
The committee also approved a new appeals process for players called for targeting in the second half of a game. In games that have instant replays, if a targeting foul is called in the second half, the carryover penalty of sitting out the first half of the player's next game will be eligible for further appeal.
The conference can submit a request to the coordinator of officials, who would review the video of the play. If it's "obvious" a player was incorrectly penalized for targeting, the call would be overturned and the player would be cleared to play in the first half of the next game.
The panel also approved simplified rules for blocking below the waist that it said will increase safety. The NCAA said the proposal will allow blocking below the waist only by linemen and stationary backs inside the tackle box. Such blocks would be prohibited outside the tackle box on scrimmage plays.
"Analysis of available NCAA injury surveillance data indicates a decreasing knee injury trend that coincides with recent rules changes in this area," the NCAA said.
The new rules go into effect in the 2022 season.
