NCAA Rules Provide New Way to Score Two Points in Football

The NCAA Football Rules Committee adopted a change that will give defensive teams an opportunity to score on point-after-touchdown tries.

The committee, meeting in Kansas City, added provisions to Rule 8-3 that awards defensive teams two points for scoring on a point-after-touchdown try. The NCAA announced the changes Wednesday.

Under the former rule, the point-after-touchdown opportunity ended if the defensive team gained possession of the ball or was entitled to possession after a foul; if a penalty against the offensive team involved a loss of down; if an accepted penalty resulted in a score, when it was obvious a scrimmage kick was unsuccessful, or if the kick touched a player of the kicking team or the ground.

Defensive teams are still prohibited from advancing fumbles. But, two points will be awarded for returning an interception or advancing a blocked kick for a “touchdown.”

The committee also voted to allow the same team to call consecutive timeouts during the interval between downs. Teams previously could only request one charged team timeout between downs.