College Football rules are set for a shakeup, as it was announced today that the NCAA had approved a significant rule change surrounding the evaluations of injured players on the field of play.
This will affect time-wasting tactics similar to the ones California used to stop Oregon back in 2010.
How Cal’s 2010 Tactic Against Oregon Sparked a Rule Change Years Later
With College Football Insider Brett McMurphy releasing the news surrounding the new rule, it drew significant backlash from fans who questioned whether it was a good decision.
NCAA approves rule change for injury timeouts in 2025: Under the new rule, if medical personnel enter field to evaluate an injured player after ball is spotted by officiating crew for the next play, that player’s team will be charged a timeout. If team does not have any timeouts…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) April 17, 2025
“NCAA approves rule change for injury timeouts in 2025: Under the new rule, if medical personnel enter the field to evaluate an injured player after the officiating crew spots the ball for the next play, that player’s team will be charged a timeout. If the team does not have any timeouts remaining, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed,” explained McMurphy.
Multiple fans had many questions surrounding the rule change, pointing out potential flaws in the system underneath the post.
“How does this resolve anything? So the player can still fake an injury, and the medical personnel know he’s faking and don’t enter the field to check on him. Then what happens? What am I missing?” One fan questioned
“Good rule – coaches will teach if you’re hurt stay down or go down. There were so many teams that would fake injuries to slow down offenses – glad to see it gone! Now can we reduce the length of TV timeouts? 3 minutes or more is too much!” Another fan defended.
NCAA Rule Targets the Exact Tactic Cal Used to Stop Oregon in 2010
When questioned on why this rule was implemented, the obvious answer would be to point to the tactics California used against Oregon in 2010.
Back in 2010, many noticed that California was implementing some potential fake injuries in order to slow down the game, with defensive lineman Aaron Tipoti looking toward the sidelines, before going down, apparently faking an injury despite being perfectly fine following the previous play.
A source within the Bears camp confirmed to The Oregonian that this was “a big part” of the defensive game plan against Oregon, utilising fake injuries to slow down Oregon’s offense.
When questioned on the matter, the California Head Coach adamantly denied any sort of fake injury tactic, claiming that it was just the Oregon fans seeing things.
“I know any time anybody goes down against Oregon, fans always think that’s the case, but it’s not the case,” Jeff Tedford, the California Head Coach at the time,e defender.
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Almost fifteen years after that incident, the NCAA has finally offered a solution to the problem, which will be implemented in the 2025/26 season.
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