The NCAA Football Rules Committee met today and came away with a number of recommendations, a few of them far overdue.
Two of the recommendations in particular were sparked by viral coaching moments we witnessed back in the fall.
Oregon's Dan Lanning brilliantly exploited a coaching loophole with a decision that helped the Ducks escape with a win over Ohio State, and a "T-bar" action during a return that led to Bret Bielema "taunting" Shane Beamer into an emotional tizzy both prompted rule change proposals.
First, let's revisit our article back in October following tense final moments from the Buckeye vs. Oregon game in what may just be the coaching decision of the year.
Lanning and the Ducks exploited a loophole in the rulebook with 10 seconds left to play and the Buckeyes threatening to get into field goal range in a one-point play out of a timeout.
Coming out of the stoppage, Oregon sent 12 players on the field, blanketing the trips side with the extra body to ensure the throw to the single-receiver, who was bracketed by high-low coverage from the corner and safety.
Here's that situation playing out.
Surprisingly, Lanning somehow wasn't asked about the decision after the game, but during his weekly presser the next week he talked about the coverage and how the spent an "inordinate amount of time on situations" that sometimes appear, and sometimes don't pop up during a college football game, and that's one that they've worked on and went on to add - with a grin - "you can see the result."
The exploitation of that loophole has led to the NCAA Football Rules Committee to recommend a change for when the defense commits a foul with 12 or more players on the field and they participate in a play with less than two minutes remaining in either half.
See that recommendation - which we might as well refer to as The Dan Lanning Rule - below.
One of the other notable changes was sparked by what initially was believed to be a taunting action by Bret Bielema in the Illini's bowl game against South Carolina.
During a South Carolina return, deep man Juju McDowell held his arms out in a "T," widely believed to be the universal signal of not returning the kick. Except South Carolina did return it, after latering the ball to teammate Nyck Harbor, who took the ball for a return of nearly 25 yards.
An injury to an Illini player on the field brought Bielema onto the field, and while walking away from his player and the trainers, Bielema extended his arms out into the "T" signal, essentially asking Beamer what was up with the unwritten rule being broken.
What came off as a taunt initially, was actually something much different.
Regardless, the action by Bielema sent Beamer into a rage, where he had to be restrained by members of the South Carolina staff.
After the game Beamer called Bielema's actions bush league while Bielema accused Beamer of trampling all over a universal understanding during a kick return play.
Here's that playing out.
Based on the rules committee's stance today, they side with Bielema on the matter.
The rules committee suggests the "T-signal" now result in a team giving up their right to return the kick.
Zach has some additional rule change recommendations, including the NCAA's plan to stop faked injuries.