Cracking down on fake injuries and penalizing any imitation of brandishing weapons are among rule changes coming to the 2025 college football season.
The tweaks were announced by the National Football Foundation on Wednesday, August 13 as part of its annual update of rules.
A hot topic among rule implementation, preventing teams from faking injuries was a top priority for the rules committee. It was typically done by defenses to stop high-tempo offenses or teams with momentum, while it was also done on offense to stop the game clock and get a pseudo extra timeout.
Now in place for the 2025 season, if a player presents themselves as injured after officials have spotted the ball, that player’s team will be charged a timeout or a delay of game penalty if it has no timeouts left. The player must also sit out at least one play, regardless of whether a timeout has been assessed or not, and cannot return unless they receive approval from the team’s medical personnel.
Another notable rule change is extending penalties to any celebration that mimics a weapon. Before, only an act that simulated the firing of a weapon resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
