NCAA closes loophole that allowed Oregon to purposely induce late penalty in win

The NCAA football rules committee issued guidance Wednesday to close a loophole that allowed second-ranked Oregon to exploit an illegal substitution penalty late in its victory over Ohio State to take time off the clock.

With Ohio State driving on its final possession of the game and just seconds left on the clock, Oregon was flagged for having too many defenders on the field, drawing a 5-yard penalty. While the Buckeyes gained 5 yards, the move took four seconds off the clock. The Ducks went on to win 32-31.

“After the Two-Minute Timeout in either half, if the defense commits a substitution foul and 12 or more players are on the field and participate in a down, officials will penalize the defense for the foul and at the option of the offended team, reset the game clock back to the time displayed at the snap,” the guidance said.

“The game clock will then restart on the next snap," it continued. "If the 12th defender was attempting to exit but was still on the field at the snap and had no influence on the play, then the normal substitution penalty would be enforced with no clock adjustment.”