Clemson Football: Rule changes for 2023 season will shorten games

As usual, there will be some rule changes when Clemson Football takes the field for this new season. Most of the changes are designed to speed up the game and keep the number of snaps from increasing the length of the contest.

There are small changes every season, but some this year will be very noticeable and might catch fans off guard if they aren’t aware.

The biggest change for Clemson Football will be the way the clock is managed after first downs

The clock will not stop this season after the offense gets a first down. It will continue to run the way it does in the NFL. The exception to this change will be when less than two minutes are remaining in the half. When under two minutes, the clock will stop on every first down.

With the Tigers likely increasing the tempo of their offense in Garrett Riley’s system, it will be interesting to see if this gives them any kind of advantage, or if it will result in the opposing team being able to eat up more clock.

Teams will no longer be able to take consecutive time-outs during the same dead ball period. Therefore coaches with multiple time-outs at the end of the game or the half will no longer be able to take consecutive time-outs to ice a kicker.

Starting this season, live-ball fouls, offsetting fouls, or inadvertent whistles will no longer extend the first and third quarters. Previously, the first and third quarters would be extended by one untimed down. The second and fourth quarters will continue to be extended if any of those circumstances occur.

Instant replay is being extended to games that don’t have a live replay official on-site

The rules for instant replay are shifting so that games that do not have a replay official available can still use replay. When a dedicated replay official is not present, the head referee can now make the replay decision with the assistance of one other official. The on-field officials will not be able to initiate a replay themselves except for targeting reviews. Outside of targeting, all replays will need to be initiated by a head coach’s challenge.

This change isn’t likely to impact any Clemson games, as replay officials will almost always be present. This is likely to have more impact at lower levels like the FCS, Division II, and Division III.

The other changes for 2023 include the way drones are managed during a game and halftime intermission. There are more details here.

There will be no changes this season to the targeting rules, despite many fans continuing to show frustration with the way the rules are enforced.