Interpretation of football rules for the substitution rule

NCAA Football Secretary of State Rules Editor Steve Shaw, working with the NCAA Football Rules Committee, issued an interpretation that allows defensive teams with more than 11 players to participate in the final two minutes of a half.

If the defense commits a substitution foul after the two-minute timeout in a half and there are 12 or more players on the field involved in a down, the officials will penalize the defense for the foul and, at the option of the offending team, start the game clock the time displayed during the snap.

The game clock will then restart at the next snap. If the 12th defender attempted to leave the ball but was still on the field at the time of the snap and had no impact on the play, the normal substitution penalty of 5 yards without any time adjustment was assessed.

“Football is a very dynamic game,” Shaw said. “Occasionally there are certain situations where taking a penalty can give a team an advantage. A guiding principle of the NCAA Football Rules Committee is that there should be no advantage when a team commits a penalty. The goal of this in-season interpretation is to eliminate any potential time advantage for committing a substitution foul and deprive the defense of any gain for violating the substitution rule.