Syracuse Football: There are several key rule changes in the 2023 season

The Syracuse football 2023 season is only about two weeks away, and I can’t freaking wait.

The Orange will kick off the upcoming campaign at home on Saturday, Sept. 2, when the ‘Cuse hosts fellow Central New York foe Colgate beginning at 4 pm inside the JMA Wireless Dome.

Projections for the ‘Cuse in 2023 appear mixed, as I’ve noted a couple of times lately. The Orange will face several teams that are ranked in preseason top-25 polls, and Syracuse football will have to endure a brutal stretch of games from late September through late October.

As the ‘Cuse prepares for its 2023 season, there are some important rule changes in college football that I wanted to pass along to my fellow Orange fans.

Let’s review various rule changes affecting Syracuse football and its peers in 2023.

A recent press release from the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, in partnership with College Football Officiating LLC, sheds light on what the main rule changes are for the upcoming term.

It looks like a lot of these rule changes, which come from the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel, center on timing and clock issues. Per the media statement I came across, the NCAA panel made some rule changes that focus on the pace of play, the number of plays transpiring in each game, and ensuring consistency in managing the game clock.

•When a team secures a first down, the clock will no longer stop, except when there are fewer than two minutes left in the second and fourth quarters. I’m all for this. I never felt there was a need to stop the clock after first downs, but I also agree that doing so late in the first half and at the tail end of games is logical.

•Teams will have three timeouts during each half, but they no longer will be able to call consecutive timeouts in the same dead-ball period. Totally on board with this. There’s no need for a team to call two timeouts in a row before a new play happens.

•Regarding the extension of quarters, a period will get extended for an untimed down in the second and fourth quarters only, “if a penalty is accepted for a live-ball foul, if there are offsetting fouls, or an inadvertent whistle.” Furthermore, the first and third quarters will not get extended, with any penalties carrying over to the next quarter. Sounds good.

•There was also a bullet point on drone policy. This is where we are in sports and in life, but to me, it’s a tad comical to even be talking about drones. In any event, the new rule states, “Drones are not allowed over the field or the team area when squad members are present within the playing enclosure. Outside the limit lines, game management (or conference policy) will govern drone activity.”

•As it relates to halftime, the field will become available for warm-ups “no later than three minutes prior to the second-half kickoff.”

•Lastly, instant replay may be used in games where there isn’t an instant-replay booth official and must comply with the sport’s replay rule (Rule 12) save for a couple of exceptions.

Okay, that’s it. What are your thoughts, Syracuse football fans? Like these new rule changes?? Dislike them???