2022 NCAA Rules, pending PROP approval

[ElvisLives]

Attached are the 2022 NCAA Rules Changes, pending approval by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel in April. (They rarely reject or modify anything.)

Of course, we will have to wait and see what the UIL does with these.

The NCAA is making knee pads ‘recommended,’ and making leg coverings mandatory (like the NFL).  If the UIL adopts this, then we are out of the knee pad/pant covering police business. But, I have a feeling they will make the stockings ‘recommended’ as well, from an economic impact perspective. If so, we would be out of the knee-pad/pants covering police business, but the image of the game will take a huge hit.

They have gone back to having illegal touching by an originally ineligible player include LOD. OK, so that addresses the issue of the covered receiver stepping back into the backfield to catch a pass. The ‘interpretation’ we had before this was that this was to be considered an Illegal Forward Pass (not illegal touching), so we could get the LOD included with the penalty. Well, now there is no need for the IFP interpretation. We get the LOD, along  with the 5-yards from the previous spot distance penalty. Good.

Blocking below the waist has been further restricted. But, it may be more complicated. If you are a lineman within the TB at the snap, your initial block may be from the side or front. But, after that, they may BBW in the tackle box, but from the front, only, and only until the ball leaves the TB. B players have, essentially, the same privilege, but that’s all. No more blocker bustin’.
So many "what ifs" that will need to be answered. "What if tackle A77 doesn't have anybody directly in front of him at the snap, and he retreats into a pass-blocking mode, then sees blitzing linebacker B55 slide off of guard A66's block, so A77 dives at B55 (no longer in contact with A66), now 2 yards behind the NZ, contacting B55 at/below the thigh, from the side (with the QB still holding the ball, looking for a receiver)?"

All defensive holding now contains an automatic first down.

A few other less significant things.

But, we wait to see what the UIL adopts.

[bctgp]

I don't think they made knee pads as recommended? I think they only recommend now that knee pads and pants cover the knees. Still have to have knee pads, albeit if they don't cover the knees are they really 'knee pads' 

[ElvisLives]

I don't think they made knee pads as recommended? I think they only recommend now that knee pads and pants cover the knees. Still have to have knee pads, albeit if they don't cover the knees are they really 'knee pads' 

Yeah, you are correct. But, considering there are no rule criteria for a knee pad (for material, area or thickness), they could place a band-aid on the inside of the pants and call it a pad, and we wouldn't have any support to make them change it (not that we would ask them to change it, anyway). Effectively, anything more than a piece of tape is voluntary.
Same is true for thigh pads. And, there are no rule criteria for shoulder pads, other than an epaulet may not have edges with a radius of more the 1/2 the thickness of the material used. All of these pads are required, but there are no rule specifications for any of them. So, effectively, they can use most anything they want that is not hard, unyielding, or sharp. They could stuff their jerseys with towels. They could place a comic book under their pants on the thighs as thigh guards. They could flatten a toilet paper roll and stick it in the back of their pants as a tailbone protector.

While I pine for the good ol' days, I don't really care if they don't wear pads. I just want there to be no exposed skin on the legs, abdomen, or upper arms. With this new rule, we've got the legs covered. Now, we need to get them to require that either the jerseys themselves or an identically matching color undershirt be tucked into the pants, and we'll have the abdomen covered. And, if we could get them to require jersey or undershirt sleeves to cover the arms above the elbows, we'd have the arms covered. Then some level of dignity may be restored to the game.