Most notable college football rule changes in 2025-26

The college football rulebook is a living document, and the 2025 season will feature some newly installed NCAA rules and guidelines for referees to keep in mind while officiating games.

While some of them are just schematic changes that casual fans won’t notice, some of them are pretty pronounced.

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The “faking injuries” fiasco hit the chopping block with the new rule changes, as did gun-influenced celebrations on the field and what making a “T” means for players who receive the ball on kickoffs.

We’ve used a helpful guide from USA TODAY Sports on all the new rule changes and picked out the five that caught our eye in particular.

1. Pressing down on players “faking injuries”

Per USA TODAY Sports’ Jordan Mendoza: “If a player presents themselves as injured after officials have spotted the ball, that player’s team will be charged a timeout or a delay of game penalty if it has no timeouts left. The player must also sit out at least one play, regardless of whether a timeout has been assessed or not, and cannot return unless they receive approval from the team’s medical personnel.”

2. Gun celebrations will get penalized

Any celebration that features a player pretending to brandish a weapon during a celebration will get flagged.

3. “T” symbols on kickoffs

If a player on a returning team makes a “T” during the kickoff, the play will be considered dead and that player won’t be eligible to return the football.

4. A big change for attempted fumble recoveries

Any player trying to recover a loose football is now considered defenseless by the officials and must be treated as such by opposing players. This could have a big impact on targeting calls.

5. A change in how refs communicate

“Instead of saying ‘confirmed’ or ‘stands,’ officials will use…

Source link : https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2025/08/22/college-football-new-rules-changes-ncaa-2025/85769242007/

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Publish date : 2025-08-22 18:37:00

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