Upon further review, NCAA approves instant replay

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Instant replay will become a part of Div. I-A football games after all.

More than two months after tabling the issue, the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP) on Tuesday approved a proposed video-replay system for games starting this fall.

On Feb. 9, the NCAA on approved a standardized video-review system across all Div. I-A conferences that would have a video official review all plays and allow each team one challenge per game.

However, the PROP decided on March 13 that it needed more feedback, particularly on coaches' challenges. The delay allowed the Football Rules Committee to receive input from the American Football Coaches Association and the Div. I-A Collegiate Commissioners Association, which met in late April.

On Tuesday, the panel approved a revised proposal by the Football Rules Committee that calls for one challenge per team per game, provided the squad requesting the challenge has a timeout available.

If the challenge is successful, the team will keep its timeout, but that will be the only challenge allowed in the game for the squad. If the challenge fails, a timeout will be charged.

"This revised proposal achieves the intended result of the rules committee to incorporate a challenge into the video-replay system," panel chair and Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference commissioner John Cochrane said.

Two seasons ago, the Big Ten Conference experimented with instant replay, allowing a video official to stop the game to inspect reviewable plays that had a direct, competitive impact on the game.

In 2005, the majority of conferences implemented the Big Ten's system, though the Mountain West Conference allowed one challenge per team. A total of 35 plays were challenged all season, with the call on the field reversed five times.

Also on Tuesday, the PROP recommended that halftime of college football games last 20 minutes, but the competing schools can shorten or lengthen the break by mutual consent.

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