A major change is being made to the 2025 college football rulebook to help prevent the not-so-subtle art of faking injuries during games this fall. The news was announced by the National Football Foundation this week as teams prepare for the upcoming season.
According to the Associated Press, “if a player on the field presents as injured after the ball is spotted for the next play, that player’s team will be charged a timeout. If the team does not have timeouts remaining, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed.”
This is a step in the right direction, as the NCAA Football Rules Committee determined the topic as a priority for the offseason. Faking injuries has become more common in order for a team to stop the clock. From a defensive perspective, it was used to slow down up-tempo offenses or help defenses that fell behind on play calling. From an offensive standpoint, it was commonly used to either stop the clock or gain an extra timeout to talk things over.
In addition to the timeout/delay-of-game penalty, it will also affect the downed player. According to the AP, “the player also must remain out of the game for at least one down, even if that team is granted a timeout, and may not return until receiving the approval of a medical professional.”
While the practice has become rampant across college football as a whole in recent years, one memory from the 2024 season stands out as noteworthy. ABC broadcaster Sean McDonough called out Ole Miss for faking an injury in a game against Kentucky in September.
“We’re back, Matt Jones, fortunately, survived to walk off the field,” McDonough said, coming back from break. “Just a blatant fake injury. We’ll show you when we have a moment… Now let’s go back to what happened just before the timeout. Dart gestures at Jones to say, ‘Hey, they want you to go down.’ And he goes down.”
Shocking injury for Ole Miss’ RB….if you’re uneasy looking at injuries, do not watch this. Hoping for full recovery.pic.twitter.com/EhvOArWFZg
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 28, 2024
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We’ll see just how well the new rule change discourages teams from faking injuries when games kick off this fall.
Here are some of the other notable rule changes for the 2025 season, via the Associated Press:
- On kick returns, if any player on the receiving team holds out his arms to make a “T” signal during the kick, the team gives up its right to make a return and the play will be whistled dead.
- Any defensive player within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage (stationary or not) may not make quick and abrupt or exaggerated actions that simulate action at the snap in an obvious attempt to make the offense commit a penalty. The offense will be held to the same standard as any pre-snap movement that simulates action at the snap is a foul on the offense for a false start.
- All forms of gun violence are not permitted and simulating the firing of a weapon is an automatic unsportsmanlike foul. This year, if a player simulates the act of brandishing a weapon, it is considered an unsportsmanlike act.
For a full list of the rule changes coming to college football this season, click here.
