Ding, Dong, 3-2-5e Is Dead

Huzzah! Universally loathed Rule 3-2-5e, which chopped off about 10% of the 2006 football season, is no more:

In Rule 3-2-5-e, the committee altered its rule to have the clock start on the snap after a change in possession, as opposed to the 2006 rule which started the clock when the referee signaled the ball ready for play. Also, the committee returned its rules on free kicks to 2005 standards, starting the clock on kickoffs only when the ball is legally touched in the field of play.

Let's have a parade. In its place, the NCAA has proposed several changes that would shorten games without reducing play:

Minor/Useless

Reducing timeout length by 30 seconds
Play clock starts at 15 after TV timeout
"Encourage coaches, officials, game management personnel, media partners to manage the game in a more efficient manner" -- uh... okay
Play clock starts when the ball is handed to the kicker on kickoffs

Thank God

Maximum time a replay can take capped at two minutes

Major

Kickoffs will be from the 30 instead of the 35
All kicking team fouls on punts/KOs can now be enforced at the end of the run

(How the last reduces the amount of time in a game is unclear to me.) I can't wait for next year's Dennis Dodd article on how offenses are back in style after an unusually defensive 2006.