Clock rule change data after week zero and week one: games are being significantly shortened
How the new clock rules have impacted the games so far this college football season:
2022:
•plays per game: 131
•drives per game: 24.0
•plays per drive: 5.50
2023
•plays per game: 117 (-10.7% fewer)
•drives per game: 21.7 (-9.6%fewer)
•plays per drive: 5.40
So about 10% less game time and from what I've seen, no difference in broadcast time. 10% of the game replaced by commercials. Great for advertisers, fucking terrible for fans. Schools are wondering why game attendance is dropping. This right here. The commercial breaks were already brutal when attending a game, this just makes it worse.
Personally, I am going to the OSU game this year, because...obviously, but I was offered free tickets to 2 of the non-con games and I declined. Just not worth it to me anymore when I can hang out at home drinking cheap beer, eating cheap food, and go to the bathroom without a 10-minute trek and wait. I'm in my 30's and writing this makes me feel pretty old. I just don't have the will to sit in the 85 degree sun for 4 hours to see 30 minutes of football anymore.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^
This is upsetting.
At least Keon Coleman is balling out and making Spartans sad
September 3rd, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
Idk what it is but it always seems like msu has/had better receivers than us. Reed, Coleman, etc..even their young guys this year like Henry and glover. You’ll never see a Michigan wr make the catch that Henry made or even the over the shoulder catches..it’s just weird
September 3rd, 2023 at 10:50 PM ^
If we want to recruit better receivers, we have to throw more.
It's the same with elite quarterbacks. If we want more than one generational QB in a generation, we're going to have to throw more.
Broken record...
And the bonus is that when they back the 8th defender out of the box to stop the pass, our RB's will gash them.
September 4th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Pass to set up the run. Been saying this forever, blah, blah, blah...
Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!
September 3rd, 2023 at 11:22 PM ^
Henry is a good returner, but he’s not better than at least 6 WRs on our roster.
Also, if we can have the 2-deep on the OL and a stable of RBs and a real good college QB who can lead us to methodical 4 score wins every game and win the big ones too en route to the B1G championship and CFP, so be it.
2019 we had a 5* QB, a 5* RB, a 5* WR along with two high 4*s at WR, and yet the line that was meh and that season was meh.
September 4th, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
You're right. I mean, Braylon Edwards didn't make any catches like that in his career. Ronnie Bell never made a tough catch, either. Colston Loveland dropped that TD in the endzone in the B1G CG last year. That catch, back shoulder over two defenders, must have been photoshopped. Tai Streets never caught one over the shoulder and galloped down OSU's sideline for a TD, either. Anthony Carter was just another guy. Desmond Howard won the Heisman as a kick returner...
Dude - stop being so dramatic. You're putting two (basically) unrecruited MSU holdouts above every WR Michigan has ever run onto the field? C'mon, man...
September 4th, 2023 at 11:40 AM ^
I may be an outlier re Ronnie Bell. He was a fine receiver, sure, and outplayed his recruiting ranking by a long way. But he wasn't what I think of as great. He dropped a lot of balls. And he had very few holy-shit plays.
September 4th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
True. Good but not great. Michigan hasn’t had a great receiver in the Harbaugh era, and there’s currently little reason for a truly elite high school receiver to come to Michigan. Peoples-Jones came because of academics/parents/home state kid and had an underwhelming college career in this offense. Opening things up a bit in the first game was an encouraging sign.
September 4th, 2023 at 8:52 AM ^
Admittedly MSU has had good receivers goong as far back as Andre Rison, but your take makes it sound like you started watching UM football post-Carr
September 4th, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
Box score comparison between our game and the Buffs v. TCU:
Edit: The point is, that Colorado ran 30% more offensive plays (total) and 50% more passing plays than we did. Granted, playing complementary football and eating clock on offense will keep your defense fresh and help you win games. But if you're a 5-star QB or WR recruit looking to make it to the league, you want as many game reps as you can get as part of your development. We're moving in the right direction but I think we still have a ways to go.
I believe our wideouts had comparable targets to Harrison Jr. and Egbuka Saturday.
September 4th, 2023 at 11:23 AM ^
“Always” must = post-Carr in your mind. But even then, you’re wrong. Since Hoke UM has had 9 WRs drafted and Sparty 7. Coleman had a decent year last year but if he makes a name for himself will do so as a Seminole.
September 4th, 2023 at 4:30 PM ^
Yeah, you’ll never see a Michigan receiver make a great one-handed catch.
September 4th, 2023 at 4:36 PM ^
Jason Avant was literally the Comcast Cable commercial for a decade with his one-handed grab (which I saw live) at Northwestern. Marquis Walker beat Iowa with a catch nearly identical to the MSU guy this weekend except it was in the back of the end zone and in the 4th Q of a very close game. Ask MSU about Woodson’s one-handed catch (he played wr too it counts)
Oh and Desmond on 4th down vs Notre Dame.
Those are just off the top of my head. I’m sure there are many more and remember, it’s not a bad thing to have QBs who throw accurately enough that players don’t need to make one-handed grabs. I think MSU’s catch this weekend was mostly due to a bad pass more than anything.
September 4th, 2023 at 7:45 PM ^
I think youre missing the receivers being covered and having to make great catches because of poor qb/ offensive gameplans. Michigans receivers shouldnt need to make great catches when they are getting wide open from PA/run game threats, route running chops, and scheme. Low percent plays like sideline fades dont need to be a part of the offense when your qb is dead on to open guys... Not to mention all the times theyve made great catches anyways in even recent years. I understand the sentiment though, they have unearthed some gems at wr, but I certainly dont feel theyve been better than michigans wideouts overall or recently.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:32 PM ^
Just not worth it to me anymore when I can hang out at home drinking cheap beer, eating cheap food, and go to the bathroom without a 10-minute trek and wait. I'm in my 30's and writing this makes me feel pretty old.
Yeah man, all of that.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:44 PM ^
I'm reminded of Pat Fitzgerald when someone asked him a similar question in a press conference a few years back, and he responded with a weird rant about how college attendance is down "because of these damned kids on their damned cell phones and they don't look up at dinner when their parents are trying to talk to them!" I laughed my ass off at the time at how stupid and boomer-ish his answer was. Now I feel like a super-boomer for not wanting to go to a game in my 30's because the bathroom wait time is too long. Shit, I'm officially old. And the CFB decision-makers officially are terrible.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:51 PM ^
Life is busy, there's a lot you can do while Pfizer is trying to sell you prevnar.
September 4th, 2023 at 4:47 AM ^
Pfizer are greedy pieces of shit and it's insane anyone trust anything they say.
September 4th, 2023 at 8:05 AM ^
Replace "Pfizer" with 'Any pharma company ever' and I'll give you that +1...
September 4th, 2023 at 10:51 AM ^
That’s funny, because I usually spend commercial time looking at my phone…
September 4th, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^
He complains about kids on their phones but not kids rubbing their balls on other kids?
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:33 PM ^
That’s my whole thing, the expansion, rules, etc aren’t for the athletes or fans, it’s always about money.
September 3rd, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
people always use this phrase, and it's true, but too simple. It's about short term money, and college football is a long term sport. This is not sustainable. Football is getting way too arrogant about how popular it is.
September 3rd, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
I don’t know. I wish so badly they do away with this new running clock rule next year, but that’d require these TV stations giving up new $$ they got for more ads. And that just never happens. May make people less likely to tune into G5 of weak P5 games, but everyone will still tune in for the big ones. Idk, hope it changes back but don’t think it’ll ever happen. Makes me sad
September 4th, 2023 at 11:46 AM ^
No no, this was totally done for the safety of the players, so says the rules committee.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
Agree 100%. And also in old-man takes, at least I didn't think the ear-splitting music was as omni-present as last year. Or maybe it just wasn't as loud so I didn't notice.
September 4th, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
Or you're losing your hearing, so loud things just sound normal now.
September 3rd, 2023 at 10:07 PM ^
More coaches need to say that
September 4th, 2023 at 7:52 AM ^
Harbaugh might have if he'd been in the stadium.
September 4th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Actually, since he's (presumably) watching the same TV broadcast everyone else is, he is in an even better position to notice all the commercial time vs game time, and comment accordingly.
September 4th, 2023 at 8:09 AM ^
Was watching that game but turned away at halftime - I wish I hadn't! Gives me a new respect for Chip that I wouldn't have had before. Maybe Harbaugh can do the same at some point this year (when he can afford to be suspended again).
September 4th, 2023 at 11:51 AM ^
Chip Kelly is the new "tell it like it is" guy. After UCLA announced its move to the Big 10 last year, he was the one who said it made no sense to have rowing or other nonrevenue sports that play during the week travel cross country. He was saying that there should just be football only conferences (they just play on weekends) and just let the other sports continue to be students with sane travel schedules.
September 4th, 2023 at 11:31 PM ^
Chip Kelly with the win. Can you imagine giving up an entire inning (2.7 of the 27 outs) of an MLB game? College football is getting fucked coming and going.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
This is informative and upsetting.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
I am live in Texas and will gladly trade a Saturday down in the hellhole we are living in right now for those conditions : 100+ for 45 straight days
Actually I am trading it in this weekend?
September 3rd, 2023 at 11:05 PM ^
But the real question is do you hate or love Texas?? And your opinion on windmill farms???
September 4th, 2023 at 1:32 PM ^
I love Texas, been here for most of my life. I always tell my cousins that gives me grief about the weather, that I can always go somewhere else if I want cooler but it is harder to go to warm locations in the winter and I can avoid the Hurricanes if I really need to. Tornados you cannot run from easily.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:39 PM ^
Ever since the BCS, we've just been hooked by a tractor beam sucking NCAA football toward simply being the NFL. It's sad. I have no interest in watching the boring homogeny of the NFL product. But we're almost there with college, and the playoff and the two super-conferences (not to mention the in-game changes the OP is citing) seem poised to take it the rest of the journey. I remember being absolutely appalled like 15 years ago when the NFL (which I rarely watch) started to have a kickoff, followed by another commercial break. Now Fox does it for college games. Gross. If it weren't for DVR, I don't think I'd even watch.
September 4th, 2023 at 12:01 AM ^
It’s like the NFL with an extra half hour to hour of commercials. I hate it already.
MLB instituted a pitch clock and it improved the game immensely. The NCAA changed a clock rule and they have made watching a game live almost impossible. Ever notice how BTN shows replays of games in one hour with commercials? We’re now expected to sit for 4 hours for about an hour of action.
September 4th, 2023 at 8:41 AM ^
I was talking to a friend of mine as we were golfing on Saturday. He's a general sports guy, but not a CFB dude, didn't go to a D1 school, but knows sports generally. Big Euro soccer guy.
He LOVES the new clock. He wanted the NFL model b/c he "doesn't want to sit and watch for 4 hrs." They needed to shorten the game in his eyes.
And although we never discussed this specifically (b/c we had to chase down a little white ball in the woods), I got the sense that a dude like this, who gambles pretty regularly and doesn't really care about the sport, would ideally just simulate the game and see the stats on how his prop bets and DFS bets turned out.
the clock rules will NEVER go backwards. The coaches don't make the decisions, the presidents don't make those decisions, and the fans who actually like the sport sure as hell don't. The conference commissioners, who are in the pocket of the TV execs make these decisions. Follow the moeny and you'll see why decisions are made.
September 4th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^
The coaches don't make the decisions, the presidents don't make those decisions, and the fans who actually like the sport sure as hell don't. The conference commissioners, who are in the pocket of the TV execs make these decisions. Follow the moeny and you'll see why decisions are made.
Not exactly. AFAIK, these changes come from the NCAA rules committee. Kirby Smart is a co-chair of the rules committee. Here's what he said:
"This rule change is a small step intended to reduce the overall game time and will give us some time to review the impact of the change," Kirby Smart, co-chair of the committee and Georgia's head coach, said.
It's certainly possible that there was heavy pressure put on him from above, though.
Either way it sucks.
September 4th, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
reduce the overall game time LOL, OK:
- Reduce TV timeouts by one per quarter.
- Reduce time b/t Q1/2 and Q3/4 by half.
- Reduce play clock from 40 to 35.
- Remove Kick offs completely. They are now pointless wastes of everyones time.
September 4th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
How does reducing the play clock reduce the game time?
September 4th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
eh, I'm more of an idea man, let someone else work out the details.
September 4th, 2023 at 11:35 PM ^
Smart will change it if he loses otherwise nope.
September 4th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
Interesting, because I am a guy who loves to look at numbers and make wages on them with line betting and DFS. The variation in college football is what gives an advantage in the margins. The NFL is tougher to bet because they work so damned hard to reduce variation.
This change is godawful not only for watching, but for betting as well. And it takes away the advantage that Michigan (and teams like Michigan) have in wearing down others. You basically have to boat-race the other team now - something we don't typically do.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:43 PM ^
No way. The only thing changing this year is that the clock does not stop while they move the chains after a 1st down except it does in the last 2 minutes of each half.
The clock also doesn't stop for out-of-bounds except in the last 2 minutes, but that isn't new.
So figure 30-40 1st downs per game. Maybe the clock stopped for 10 secs while moving the chains. You cut 6-7 minutes off the whole game by this new rule. BFD.
September 3rd, 2023 at 9:46 PM ^
I think this comment is meant to be sarcastic? I hope it is, anyway. If not, it is really dumb.
September 3rd, 2023 at 11:02 PM ^
6-7 minutes out of a one hour game is about 10%