(Written by kencraw)

Every football fan knows the following frustration: Your team is up by a score or two mid-way through the 4th quarter. It’s time to grind out the clock. Problem is, your opponent KNOWS you’re trying to grind out the clock. So do you run plays that don’t keep the clock rolling so that the defense is confused or do you accept that you’re likely going to go 3 and out? It’s a big risk to not run out the clock in the traditional fashion because the defense may think you might run some plays that won’t run out the clock because they know you know that they’re going to run out the clock.

Before I start quoting Vizzini, let me suggest there is a different way, due to the rule changes in 2008. Spefically:

Previously, the game clock stopped when a runner went out of bounds and didn’t re-start until the next snap. The proposed change will make an out-of-bounds play just like a first down, after which the clock is started when the official marks the ball ready for play. But the clock will not start until the snap during the final two minutes of each half to protect the two-minute offenses.

When most people, and I think coaches fit in this group, read this rule change, they blocked out of their mind the running out the clock aspect of this rule change because of the two-minute caveat. The two-minute caveat “feels” like ‘the end of the game’. But the reality is that when you’re running out the clock, it can start WAY before there are two minutes left. Often times the final two minutes are the last of 3 or 4 drives of running out the clock that started early in the 4th quarter.

I believe this perception provides a good opportunity for the rule-savy coach who appreciates this. Defenses focus on stopping the run up the middle when their battling a run out the clock offense. They assume that the offense isn’t going to run around the edges because it’s the traditional wisdom that edge plays tend to go out of bounds and the clock stops. True, the clock does stop, which adds to the perception that the rules haven’t changed, but it only stops for the 10 or so seconds it takes the refs to spot the ball. 30 of the 40 seconds there are between plays the clock is still rolling.

So, watch for this late in the games from now on and watch for the coaches who are running, quite successfully, on the perimeter. And watch for how the clock keeps ticking (once it is set by the ref).