NCAA proves why everyone hates them, bows to Ohio State

The NCAA has officially closed a loophole that Oregon exploited during their dramatic 32-31 victory over Ohio State, a game that captured national attention due to its controversial finish, according to reports from CBS Sports.

With the game on the line, the Oregon Ducks put a 12th player on the field, taking advantage of a loophole in the NCAA rulebook that allowed them to run valuable seconds off the clock.

With just 10 seconds remaining in the game, Ohio State, down by one point, faced a third-and-25 situation from Oregon's 43-yard line. In a strategic move, Oregon ran an extra man onto the field, resulting in a 5-yard penalty.

While the penalty itself wasn’t a huge price to pay, the real issue was the time that ticked off the clock during the play. Those critical four seconds were the difference between Ohio State having two plays to try to score and being left with just one. The result? Ohio State failed to convert as QB Will Howard slid with no time remaining, and Oregon walked away with a monumental win.

This controversy — which has been talked about nonstop in Ohio State circles — prompted the NCAA to take action. Just days after the game, NCAA coordinator of officials Steve Shaw announced a change to how penalties involving too many players on the field will be handled moving forward.

Under the new interpretation of the rule, if the defense is caught with too many players on the field, the game clock will be reset to the time it showed before the play began. The aim of this change is to prevent teams from benefiting from breaking the rules and to ensure that penalties like this one don’t "offer any unfair advantage in critical moments of the game."

"Football is a very dynamic game," Shaw noted in the report. "Occasionally there are specific situations where committing a penalty can give a team an advantage. A guiding principle of the NCAA Football Rules Committee is that there should be no benefit when a team commits a penalty."

This is the first time, at least in a game with national implications, that this rule has come into question. Of course, many fans were quick to jump on the fact that this likely isn't a point of contention if it didn't happen to Ohio State.

Another fan pointed out the hypocrisy of the NCAA in its timing.

It's interesting that the NCAA was willing to close this loophole so quickly, but other aspects of the game — such as defensive substitutions and "convenient" injuries that allow teams extra timeouts — remain unaddressed.

Oregon is back on the road this week as the Ducks will travel to take on the Purdue Boilermakers for a Friday night matchup. Ohio State is currently on an open date and the Buckeyes will return home next weekend to host the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

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