You're Being Cheated Out of Football

Marty of the terrific cfbstats has the latest numbers regarding the impact of rule 3-2-5-e, which changed the clock rules to shorten games. While the rule has cut nearly 14 minutes from an average game in 2006, it also has reduced the number of plays by 16 and cut scoring by over five points. Any rule designed to give us less football is a bad rule, and if you agree, check out We Hate the New Clock Rules. Over 17,000 fans have already declared their opposition to 3-2-5-e. Here are the numbers through Week 12:

Overall...G.......Plays.......Plays/G....Min.........Min/G......Time/G
2005......642....108187.....168.52.....128258*....200.09.....3:20:04
2006......697....106316.....152.53.....129956.....186.45.....3:06.27
* missing game duration of Toledo-Ball State 10/15/2005

Year......G........Points.....Pts/G
2005......642.....33686.....52.47
2006......697.....32947.....47.27

Year.......G.....1H Pts....1H Pts/G...2H Pts....2H Pts/G...OT
2005......642...17056.....26.57......16236.....25.29.......394
2006......697...17255.....24.76......15305.....21.96.......387

Here are the shortest games from Week 12:
San Diego State-Texas Christian: 2:40
Central Florida-Tulane: 2:40
Eastern Michigan-Kent State: 2:40
Idaho-Fresno State: 2:40
Illinois-Northwestern: 2:48
Nevada-Louisiana Tech: 2:48

Here are the longest games from Week 12:
Arkansas State-Troy: 3:41
Michigan State-Penn State: 3:31
Louisiana Monroe-Kentucky: 3:29
Michigan-Ohio State: 3:28
Akron-Ohio: 3:26