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In an effort to curtail players faking injuries, a concern that has permeated throughout college football for years, the NCAA announced Thursday that its Playing Rules Oversight Panel has approved changes to the injury timeout rules starting this fall.

Under the new rule approved Wednesday, if medical personnel enter the field to evaluate an injured player after the ball is spotted by the officiating crew for the next play, that player’s team will be charged a timeout. If the team doesn’t have any timeouts remaining, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed.

The proposal to adjust the injury timeout rule resulted from teams faking injuries to stop their opponents’ momentum or avoid using an allotted timeout.

Prior to the 2021 season, the NCAA decided to allow schools or conferences to request that Steve Shaw, the NCAA secretary-rules editor/national coordinator of officials, conduct a postgame video review regarding questionable actions involving injuries.

If Shaw determined that a player had faked an injury to manipulate the rules, the offending team’s conference was notified, and any possible disciplinary action could be made by the conference office.

The rule change for next season will provide an in-game way to curtail the faking of injuries because “Football Rules Committee members think these actions negatively affect the overall perception of the game,” according to the NCAA’s release.

Shaw told ESPN he will continue to review film if asked, but his role is not to determine if a player was actually hurt — it’s to decipher if a team took advantage of an injury timeout to gain an “unmerited advantage.” Shaw said on average, he was asked to review just over one per week.

The rules committee put together a nine-minute video of moments that could have been construed as feigning injuries from last season, and Shaw said the video illustrates “an integrity issue in our game that needs to be addressed.”

“When you watch that video, action is required,” Shaw said. “Sometimes players may do it on their own because it feels accepted, and that’s what we want to stop. I’m not sure there is a perfect solution, but I think this is a good first step. This will have impact to those that are very obvious and are late and looking to the sideline and going down. Coaches do not want to risk a timeout under any circumstances. Those are very valuable commodities in the game.”

If it doesn’t have impact, Shaw said, there will probably be another step, but “it’s a good starting point and hopefully this will clean it up.”

The panel on Wednesday also approved a rule change regarding overtime timeouts. If a game reaches a third overtime, each team will have one timeout beginning with the third overtime until somebody wins. Previously, each team had one timeout for each overtime period.

At the start of the third overtime, teams alternate running two-point plays until there’s a winner. The intent is to keep the action moving once a game reaches the third overtime.

The panel also approved some other tweaks:

• Referees will only say a call on the field is “upheld” or “overturned.” The terms “confirmed” and “stands” will no longer be used on instant replay decisions.

• No offensive player can be in the direct line of the snap to the potential kicker or within the frame of the snapper on punts for the formation to qualify as a scrimmage kick formation. If a team is not in scrimmage kick formation, it must have five players numbered 50 through 79 on the line of scrimmage. Additionally, if the snapper is on the end of the line by formation, the snapper will lose scrimmage kick protection, and the opposition can line a player over the snapper.

• If any player on a kickoff return team makes a “T” signal with his arms during the kick, the team gives up the right to return the kick, and the play will be whistled dead.

• Enhanced rules regarding simulating action at the snap and words or signals that distract opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play will also be effective next season. No player can call defensive signals that simulate the sound or cadence of the offensive signals. The defensive terms “move” and “stem” would be reserved for players on that side of the ball and could not be used by the offense.

• After the two-minute timeout in either half, if the defense commits a foul with 12 or more players on the field and all the players participate in the play, the officials will administer a 5-yard penalty. The offensive team would have the option to reset the game clock back to the time at the start of the play. If the 12th player is attempting to leave the field and has no influence on the play, the defensive team will be penalized 5 yards with no adjustment to the game clock.

• Coach-to-player communication, similar to technology implemented for the FBS last year, will be allowed for teams that compete in the FCS.

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Cristobal: QB Beck cleared for summer workouts

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Cristobal: QB Beck cleared for summer workouts

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Miami coach Mario Cristobal said Monday that quarterback Carson Beck has been cleared to participate in all team summer activities and is approaching 100 percent following elbow surgery last year.

Cristobal said Beck has been throwing for the past three weeks as part of his rehab regimen. Beck missed all of spring practice and has yet to throw to Miami’s receivers as part of organized team activities. But that is all about to change when Miami begins summer workouts next week.

“He’s good to go,” Cristobal told ESPN at the ACC spring meetings. “He’s exceeding every benchmark.”

Beck underwent surgery on his right elbow to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, which he injured on the final play of the first half in second-ranked Georgia‘s 22-19 overtime win against Texas in the SEC championship game Dec. 7.

Beck started at Georgia for two seasons, going 24-3, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had him rated as the No. 5 quarterback for the 2025 draft. But given his injury and inconsistent performance in 2024, Beck entered the portal in January. He quickly opted for Miami, where he will replace No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward.

Beck threw for 7,426 yards over his two seasons as Georgia’s starter, fifth most among all FBS passers since 2023, with 57 total touchdowns and 23 turnovers.

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Canes LB Hayes out of hospital after tragic crash

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Canes LB Hayes out of hospital after tragic crash

Miami Hurricanes linebacker Adarius Hayes, who was one of the drivers in a two-vehicle crash that left three people dead and at least two others injured, has been released from the hospital, the university said Monday.

The three people who died as a result of the crash were all in a Kia Soul, which collided with a Dodge Durango being driven by Hayes on Saturday afternoon in Largo, Florida, police said.

A 78-year-old woman who was driving the Kia and two of her passengers — 10-year-old Jabari Elijah Solomon and 4-year-old Charlie Herbert Solomon Riveria — died in the crash, police said. Another passenger in the Kia was hospitalized with serious injuries, police said.

No tickets or criminal charges have been filed, though the investigation is continuing.

“We are deeply saddened to learn the crash resulted in three fatalities, as confirmed by Largo Police, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those lost,” the Hurricanes said in a statement.

The school is still working to gather further information.

“There were no signs of impairment with either driver of the vehicles,” Largo Police public information officer Megan Santo said in a statement distributed Sunday.

Hayes, a four-star recruit coming out of Largo High, played in 12 games for the Hurricanes as a freshman in 2024, mostly on special teams. He finished the season with four tackles and one interception, which he returned 25 yards in Miami’s 56-9 victory over Florida A&M on Sept. 7.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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NCAA prez is open to Trump’s idea of commission

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NCAA prez is open to Trump's idea of commission

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — NCAA president Charlie Baker said Monday he was “up for anything” when asked about a President Donald Trump-proposed commission on collegiate athletics.

Reports surfaced last week that Trump was going to create the commission.

While his conversations at ACC meetings with league football coaches, men’s and women’s basketball coaches, athletic directors and other school officials focused on governance and the pending House settlement, Baker was asked during an informal media availability for his thoughts on the presidential commission.

“I think the fact that there’s an interest on the executive side on this, I think it speaks to the fact that everybody is paying a lot of attention right now to what’s going on in college sports,” Baker said.

“I’m up for anything that can help us get somewhere.”

Baker noted the NCAA has already spent time in Washington asking for congressional help that is focused on three big issues. Among the biggest: a patchwork of state laws that relate to how collegiate athletics work in individual states; and whether student-athletes should be considered employees.

“I think [Congress] can help us. I really do,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said during an interview with ACC Network. “We have been very bold in the desire for a national standard when it comes to name, image and likeness. We need to make sure that we have something that comes out of Washington that connects all 50 of the states because we’ve had a piecemeal project and it’s really undermined college sports. It’s been a race to the bottom. So that’s one. Two is we need some legal protection. We cannot sustain one legal case after another legal case after another legal case. A reaffirmation that these are student-athletes. Those three things to me will be very important to see if that can come out of the commission.”

Baker said, “People in our office have talked to folks who are working on this, but I don’t think they’ve decided the framework around who they want to put on.”

When asked whether he felt the creation of a commission would enhance the NCAA’s chances at legislative relief, Baker said, “I don’t have a crystal ball on that one. I don’t know. I do think, though, that it’s quite clear at this point that there are a lot of people interested in college sports, and we do need some help at some point to create some clarity around some of these issues in Washington. Creating clarity one lawsuit at a time is just a really bad way to try to move forward.”

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