NCAA Considering Rule Change After Oregon Intentionally Put 12th Defender On Field Against Ohio State

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Tuesday that the NCAA Rules Committee is considering taking in-season action to change how the penalty for putting an extra defender on the field is assessed after Oregon used the current rule to its advantage against Ohio State.

Steve Shaw, the secretary rules editor of the NCAA Football Rules Committee, told Dellenger that the committee is “engaged” in examining the rule for possible action after Oregon intentionally sent a 12th defender onto the field on the second-to-last play of the game against Ohio State. The extra defender helped Oregon force an incomplete pass, and while the Ducks were issued a five-yard penalty, it ultimately worked in the Ducks’ favor as those five yards kept Ohio State out of field goal range while the play ran the clock down from 10 to six seconds. Oregon won the game on the next play when Will Howard slid too late for Ohio State to call a timeout; had the Buckeyes had another second or two on the clock, they would have been in position to kick a game-winning field goal.

you NEED to watch how genius this is

:10 left, Oregon calls a timeout

they intentionally add a 12th man late to ensure no big gain occurs

ball is snapped, no big gain

obviously its a penalty BUT

1) :04 ticks off clock
2) no big gain

:06 left

only time for 1 play

WIN pic.twitter.com/2MouQanBK8

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 13, 2024

Oregon coach Dan Lanning implied that the move to put an extra defender on the field was by design when he was asked about it during his weekly press conference on Monday.

“There was a timeout before that. We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations. There's some situations that don't show up very often in college football, but this is one that obviously was something that we had worked on. So you could see the result,” Lanning said.

Because 12 players in the defensive formation is considered to be a live-ball foul, as defined in Rule 3, Section 5, Article 3 of the NCAA Rulebook, Ohio State did not get the time back that ran off the clock even though the penalty was against Oregon.

Approved Ruling 3-5-3
I. A33, an incoming substitute, enters the huddle or assumes a position in a formation and (a) after approximately two seconds, A34 leaves the huddle and departs the field of play at his sideline, or (b) after approximately four seconds, A34 leaves the huddle and departs the field of play at his sideline. RULING: (a) Legal.(b) Foul.(Note: A departing player who leaves the huddle or his position within three seconds is considered to have left immediately.)

II. 3/5 @ B-35.Team B has 12 players in the formation, and no Team B player is attempting to leave the field while the ball is ready for play. Team A snaps the ball and the run by A44 gains 3 yards. RULING: Live ball foul, Team A 1/10 @ B-30.

Shaw declined to tell Dellenger how exactly the rule would be addressed by the Rules Committee, but an in-season action would likely direct officials to return the game clock to its original time, discouraging defenses from putting an extra defender on the field for the purpose of wasting time.

While the rule cannot be formally changed until the offseason, the Rules Committee has issued in-season rule interpretations in the past when it has determined that a penalty benefits the team penalized, in order to discourage teams from continuing to exploit the rules.

Per On3’s Pete Nakos, the change in how the penalty is officiated is expected to be made this week.