New rules to know in college football this season

There are a handful of rule changes for the 2018 college football season, but only one will make a significant difference in how the game is played.

The rulebook is finally complete for the 2018 college football season, and there are changes to the way football will be played this year.

Thankfully there’s nothing as drastic as the tackling rules that the NFL has implemented this year, which practically turn professional football into flag football.

Nope, on the college side there are a few tweaks, some that fans will notice and some that they won’t.

The National Football Foundation has summarized the changes for 2018:

Fair Catching a Kickoff

This is the ones that fans will notice the most.

When the touchback rule changed to move touchbacks from the 20-yard line to the 25-yard line, kickers became adept at kicking the ball just short of the goal line.

Kickoffs are still the most dangerous plays in football, so the rules committee has made another change to make them more rare.

Starting this season, kick returners can fair catch a ball that is short of the goal line, and that ball will be brought out to the 25-yard line, just like a touchback.

Expect to see the number of kick returns drop drastically with the new rule.

New Penalty Rules on Field Goals

This is another one where fans might notice the change.

Previously, when the defense committed a penalty on a field goal attempt, the kicking team could choose to either take the penalty and replay the down or take the field goal (if they made it).

Now the kicking team can choose to take the field goal and apply the penalty to the kickoff. It’s the best of both worlds for the scoring team, and it now puts the field goal penalty rules in line with touchdown penalty rules.

Blocking Low

Now we’re getting to the changes that fans won’t notice much.

When it comes to blocking below the waist, the rules get complicated depending on the player’s position, direction of blocking, and relation to the line of scrimmage.

Most of it’s still confusing, but the new rule simplifies things a little. From now on, if a player blocks below the waist more than five yards past the line of scrimmage, it’s an automatic penalty.

It doesn’t matter if its offense or defense, any low block after five yards gets flagged.

Knee Pads

This one’s cosmetic for fans and a safety precaution for players.

All players are required to wear knee pads and to wear pants that cover those pads.

Many players had stopped wearing them and started wearing shorter pants, but that’s now a no-no.

Picking up the Pace

The committee made one change to improve the pace of play in 2018. From now on, the 40-second play clock will start immediately after a touchdown for the extra point, and the same thing goes for the first play after a kickoff.

Previously, there was a one-minute break in these intervals.

Cap-Cam

An umpire has been able to wear a small camera on his/her cap for years, as long as it only records video and no sound.

Starting this season, all officials can wear a similar camera, as long as both teams approve it.

Aside from the kickoff change, these rules won’t make a drastic difference in how college football is played this season.

But hey, it’s always good to know the rules.