Despite running fewer plays, college football games are actually getting longer … so who’s to blame?

If college football was rated by the Bureau of Consumer Protection, there might be an issue with 2024. At the intersection of commerce and player safety, the season concluded with less football and longer games.

That’s one hidden conclusion from last season as CBS Sports posts its annual college football stat wrap. 

The much-discussed change allowing the clock to run after first downs, beginning in 2023, has had the desired effect. Since before the rule change in 2022, total combined plays per game are down five per contest to approximately 175. (That total includes special teams and live-ball penalties.)

However, the average game length in 2024 ticked up to 3 hours, 27 minutes. That’s the tied for the second-longest game length since the NCAA started tracking such things in 2008. The 11 playoff games were even longer, averaging 3 hours, 29 ½ minutes. That’s counting the overtime Peach Bowl involving Texas and Arizona State that lasted more than four hours. 

Over a full season, that 2024 playoff average would be the longest ever. 

What happened? It’s complicated and perhaps unexplainable. 

That first-down rule was one of the most significant in decades. Since 1968, the play clock had been stopped after first downs. That was one of the key differentiators between the college and pro game until the rule was changed two seasons ago. 

The clock was allowed to run for player safety reasons. In theory, less football meant fewer injuries (more on that below). The change also had a legal underpinning. When they were dragged into court on head trauma issues, for example, the NCAA and schools could point to that first-down step they’d taken to lessen injury.

In that sense, player safety trumps any larger concern about length of…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/despite-running-fewer-plays-college-football-games-are-actually-getting-longer-so-whos-to-blame/

Author : Dennis Dodd

Publish date : 2025-02-26 18:07:00

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