Punt Rule Change Takes Over at Big Ten Meetings

The sky is falling in the world of college football. The transfer portal, NIL, lawyers, money — everywhere you look, there’s a new problem that requires a Juris Doctor to solve. Over the last two weeks, CFP expansion has become the talk of the sport, but that’s not the most burning question at the Big Ten Spring Meetings.

We’ve got a punting problem.

The NCAA is adding a new rule that applies to the specifics of how punt teams line up before the snap. It’s a complicated, convoluted matter that’s difficult to explain, which is probably why Big Ten coaches spent 45 minutes complaining about the rule. All 18 Big Ten coaches are against the punt rule changes.

The most vocal critic of the rule is, you guessed it, Kirk Ferentz. He’s spent the last 27 years punting to win at Iowa. He described the potential changes to the punt rule as a “clown show.”

“There’s no compelling reason to change it. It was already perfectly fine,” Ferentz told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “We’re not playing for a couple more months. I don’t know why they couldn’t (change it).”

There are usually a handful of rule changes a year in the sport, many of which go unnoticed. The punt rule change definitely went unnoticed.

The long story short is that the NCAA is adding strict number requirements for offensive linemen in a punt formation. In order to limit a team’s ability to gimmick their way to a fake punt out of a rugby formation, they would rather players wear zip-up jerseys to put on a proper jersey number for the punt.

1. Formations must be 2×2 on either side of the snapper. Unless there are five players, wearing numbers 50-79 on the LOS.

2. Players are locked into the 2×2 formation with the Guards & Tackles in, or touching the tackle box. No shifting, and they are ineligible.

3. If five players wearing 50-79 are on the LOS, normal football rules go into effect (shifting/eligibility).

4. If a team elects to change player jerseys to alleviate numbering exceptions, a team may fill out a form and present it to the referees in the pregame meetings. An announcement will be made prior to the play about the changes.

Via @FrankWilsonJr

After seeing the detailed explanation of the new punt rules, it’s easy to understand why Big Ten coaches made a big stink at spring meetings. Will it be enough to call off the rule changes? That’s doubtful. Oh, and another important question, are they going to do anything about this Playoff?