If you were like SMQ, you cringed each time officials made the windmill, "clock start" signal as players were still lining up after kickoffs, punts and turnovers this weekend. Today, Tyler Marty [That is insulting. - ed. I'm sorry, Marty! He is a good guy. Whatever the appropriate level of contrition, I have surpassed it.] of the remarkable cfbstats.com reports to the ever-resourceful Wizard of Odds the cold, hard verdict on the debut of the NCAA's much-reviled game-shortening rule, the cryptic 3-2-5-e, and it's not pretty for fans of actual football:
2005 Total........121,044....718........168.58
2005 Week 1....8,664.........52.........166.61
2006 Week 1....10,368.......69.........150.26
That's about three possessions of a game wiped out, more in some cases. Miami, BYU, Georgia Tech and Memphis could have won with an extra possession or two. Colorado may have even put a late scare into Montana State! This is a positive development only if you are impatient, restless and don't really like football. Or America.
She shouldn't have to grow up in a country where the clock runs after a change of possession
In July, SMQ decried the rule as an effort to turn the college game into something more closely resembling the generic, no-flow pro style in the name of corporate profit, whose endless inspiration is most responsible for lengthening televised contests to begin with. Do not touch the commercials! Next, the clock will continue to run after first downs and ten seconds will be added to the play clock to ensure a more kneel-down-friendly environment.
Elsewhere, based on these findings, Mr. Swindle goes to Indianapolis to mount a grassroots campaign against game-shortening, complete with addresses and contacts to some poor NCAA "liaison" who probably doesn't deserve what's coming to him. But such is the fury of a football fan scorned.
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