College Football Rules Changes for 2019
We are just weeks away from the start of the 2019 college football season and if you're watching the games on television or in person, you will notice a couple of rules changes for 2019.
The first has to do with the targeting rule. Last year, if targeting was called, it was reviewed and the foul was either confirmed, overturned or allowed to stand. The new rule gets rid of allowing the call to stand. Each targeting foul will be reviewed and in order to be confirmed, all elements of the targeting foul must be present. If the replay official finds not all elements are present, the call will be overturned. As a result, you are probably going to see fewer ejections this season. This change was approved because of the severity of the penalty.
The other major change involves the overtime rule. There is no change for the first four overtime periods. Teams will still have the option of kicking the extra point or attempting a two point conversion after a touchdown during the first two overtimes and will still be required to try a two point conversion after scoring a touchdown in the third or fourth overtime.
The change comes in the fifth overtime. No longer will teams have the ball at the 25 yard line. They will simply go right to the two point conversion and will alternate tries until one team wins. The LSU-Texas A&M marathon last year had plenty to do with this rule change.
In addition the two person wedge on kickoff and punt returns has been outlawed and a clarification of a blind side block is also an adjustment.