COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS

New NCAA rule to protect QBs from low hits

Lindyssports.com Staff

April 16, 2014 at 7:23 pm.

If defenders hit QBs like Braxton Miller below the knees it will result in a 15-yard penalty. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)

The NCAA approved a new rule Wednesday that would make it illegal to hit the quarterback below the knees during a passing situation.

A 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty will be assessed for such a tackle beginning this fall, according to the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel.

“The rule specifically covers a scenario in which a quarterback is in a passing posture with one or both feet on the ground,” the NCAA said in its statement. “When in this situation, no defensive player rushing unabated can hit the quarterback at the knees or below the knees. In addition, a defensive player may not roll or lunge and forcibly hit the quarterback in the knee or below. So a defender already on the ground may not roll into the quarterback.”

Exceptions to the rule include the quarterback starting to run inside or outside the tackle box, the defender grabs or wraps the passer in an attempt to make a conventional tackle, and a defensive player being blocked into a quarterback.

The proposal was discussed during the Football Rules Committee’s meeting in February. The NCAA said the commissioners from the 10 FBS conferences and a majority of coaches expressed support for the rule.