News & Notes

NCAA Adopts Rule Changes Changes in the rules of college football aimed at protecting defensive players from dangerous blocks and keeping offenses from using quick substitutions to gain an advantage were approved by the NCAA Football Rules Committee, which met in Indianapolis in February. Among the alterations to the rulebook is an expansion to the definition of an illegal block to mean any high-low block by two offensive players when the initial contact clearly occurs beyond the neutral zone. Such a block could have previously been considered legal if the contacts were simultaneous. Another rule change involved the \"crack-back\" block. Before, offensive players positioned more than seven yards in any direction from the middle offensive lineman at the snap, or in motion toward the ball at the snap, were prohibited from blocking below the waist toward the original position of the ball