Nebraska is putting in some early work on the recruiting trail for the class of 2027. Yes, you read that right, the Cornhuskers extended a scholarship offer to an eighth grader.
Matt Rhule and his new Nebraska football staff are making bold moves to build in-state recruiting ties. And that includes a scholarship offer for middle schooler Tory Pittman III.
Pittman shared the news of his scholarship offer on Twitter on Sunday.
Pittman currently attends Buffett Middle School in Omaha. He’s anticipated to enroll at Omaha Central High School as a freshman in the fall. Any number of Cornhuskers, including Ahman Green, have come through Omaha Central.
As a middle schooler, Pittman isn’t rated by the major recruiting services. But that doesn’t mean Rhule and Nebraska don’t like what they see already.
College Football Decision-Makers Considering Controversial Rule Change to Shorten Games
According to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, college football executives are examining some potential rule changes that could affect the length of games. Per Dellenger, these rule changes would focus on clock management with the goal to possibly implement more NFL-style rules to speed up games. Here was his report:
“Executives of the sport are moving closer to recommending several clock rule changes meant to reduce plays for both safety and game length reasons, multiple officials tell Sports Illustrated,” he wrote.
Dellenger then outlined the four rules. Two of which are fairly minor, while the other two would make a large impact on how long games last:
“High-ranking college football leaders have been reviewing four specific changes to clock rules, two of which are considered non-controversial, one that has garnered wide support and a fourth that has left some divided.
Four Rules That Could Change In College Football
“The non-controversial proposals include… (1) prohibiting consecutive timeouts (ie, icing kickers). And (2) no longer extending a first or third quarter for an untimed down if the quarter ends on a defensive penalty. (The down would be clocked starting the next quarter).
“In a third proposal that is garnering wide support, the clock will continue to run after an offense gains a first down except inside of two minutes in a half. In a more controversial fourth proposal, the clock will continue to run after an incomplete pass once the ball is spotted for play.”
That third proposal is the big one. Because it’s a rule that already exists in the NFL and reportedly has support. College football games traditionally last much longer than NFL games due to the first down rule.
In the NFL, the clock continues to run after first downs. Meanwhile, a first down stops the college clock until the ball is placed. Most games feature 20+ first downs, so that’s a huge number of stoppages that would be eliminated by the change.
The last alteration is a bit more exotic since incomplete passes have always stopped the clock in college football. However, the rules would mean the clock still stops on incompletions. But it restarts upon ball placement rather than restarting on the actual snap.
Removing those stoppages would be another massive step in cutting back on game time. Though, per Dellenger, decision-makers are not all on that particular change. But even getting those first three changes would drastically alter game length. Most importantly, the rules likely limit games that go four or more hours. College football fans know that those sort of contests are far too common as is.
So, could be some major changes coming to clock-keeping in college football.
