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Blair Kerkhoff

Posted on Mon, Aug. 25, 2008 10:15 PM

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GOING FOR TWO

New rules speed things up in college football

By BLAIR KERKHOFF

The Kansas City Star

Coming to a college football stadium near you — faster play and shorter games.

The game’s pace will increase with the new 40-second play-clock rule. The clock starts as soon as the ball is whistled dead. Previously, a 25-second clock started on the referee’s signal.

“There should be more plays because the ball is going to be set faster,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said.

Also, the game clock will stop when a player goes out of bounds but will restart when the ball is marked ready for play. Previously, it didn’t start again until the ball was snapped on the next play. The old rule will apply in the final 2 minutes of each half.

More rule changes:

•A personal-foul penalty will be called for a horse-collar tackle, when a defender grabs the back collar of a jersey or shoulder pads and yanks down the ball carrier. “It usually happens by accident,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said.

•Another tackling rule: A chop block is defined as any combination block by two players against one, either high-low or low-high. It’s a 15-yard penalty. Playing for LSU last season, Chiefs defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was the victim of chop block against Auburn. No flag was thrown, and Tigers coach Les Miles called the play “immoral.”

•All face-mask penalties will be 15 yards, inadvertent or not.

•The receiving team will have the option of taking the ball on the 40, rather than the 35, on a kickoff that sails out of bounds.

Two story lines

•No huddle, no problem? Kansas and Missouri went wild with the no-huddle offenses last year, and several programs are following suit. Check out Oklahoma, Kansas State and Colorado. Speaking of the Buffaloes, will freshman running back Darrell Scott make an impact in Sunday’s game against Colorado State? The Rams are rebuilding and shouldn’t have much rushing defense.

•Ugh! That will be the reaction in these parts if the Big 12 is anything less than 10-2 on opening weekend. The toughest challenge is Baylor playing host to Wake Forest. The league will get off to a good start if Missouri defeats Illinois in St. Louis and Oklahoma State takes care of Washington State in Seattle.

Two questions

•Who is Iowa State’s starting quarterback?

Sophomore Austen Arnaud gets the call when the Cyclones open play Thursday at home against South Dakota State. But he’ll rotate with Phillip Bates, coach Gene Chizik said. “We don’t see it as a starter or backup,” Chizik said. “We see it as two starting quarterbacks.” But you can bet the Cyclones would like to have one emerge by Sept. 13 when they visit Iowa.

•Who is Baylor’s starting quarterback?

Don’t know. Coach Art Briles does, but he’s not saying. The candidates are junior Blake Szymanski, who passed for 2,844 yards and 22 touchdowns last year; Miami transfer Kirby Freeman; and dynamic freshman Robert Griffin — the fan’s favorite. Let Thursday’s foe, Wake Forest, prepare for all of them. Not a bad strategy.

Two quotes

•“The time for talk is over. It’s time to go out and play.”

| Nebraska coach Bo Pelini (right)

•“We feel like he’s our most improved player on offense.”

| Kansas State coach Ron Prince (right), on quarterback Josh Freeman

Ranking the Big 12

Team	This week	Comment
1. Missouri	Illinois (St. Louis)	Early swing game
2. Oklahoma	Chattanooga	Playing time for reserves
3. Texas	Florida Atlantic	No gimme against Sun Belt favorite
4. Kansas	Florida International	This is a gimme
5. Texas Tech	Eastern Wash.	EWU was 9-4 last season
6. Okla. State	Wash. St. (Seattle)	Cowboys have questions on defense
7. Colorado	Colo. St. (Denver)**	This one is usually close
8. Nebraska	Western Mich.	Pelini’s non-interim debut
9. Kansas State	North Texas	Cats’ pass defense to be tested
10. Texas A&M	Arkansas State	A&M grinds it out in Sherman debut
11. Iowa State	South Dakota St.*	Many new faces for Cyclones
12. Baylor	Wake Forest*	Toughie for Briles’ debut

*Thursday; **Sunday