There’s No Deadlock Over Ties

Holy scholarship! It’s August and college football already is making news, like when the Rose Bowl woke up and heard the cash register and joined hands with the bowl alliance.

Granted it was a touching, historic moment, but chances are it’s not going to have the biggest impact on college football games this season.

So, what is? Well, maybe some hints would help. What are the words college football coaches least like to hear?

--Quarterback controversy.

--Maybe you should hold off on making that down payment.

--Some guy from the NCAA is here to see you.

They’re bad, all right, but the actual answer is something far, far worse--tie game.

Yes, that’s right, the dreaded non-won, non-lost football game, the original sister-kissing knotted deadlock of an impasse.

Tie games must have been the worst thing they could think of in college football because they went out and changed the rules this year in Division I-A just to make absolutely certain we’ve seen the last of them.

No longer will any poor coach have to answer why he went for the tie. Now he doesn’t have a choice in the matter.

It’s probably a welcome change. After all the other things a coach has to worry about in a game--”Should I run?” or “Should I pass?” or “Am I standing on the right sideline?”--it’s one less decision to make.

Maybe that’s why all the Pacific 10 coaches are in favor of the concept, especially Dick Tomey at Arizona, who in 1987 watched his team finish with four victories, four defeats and three ties.

In the last 10 seasons, Pac-10 Conference teams have played 30 ties. That may sound like an average Father’s Day, but it’s not something they want to experience any longer on college football fields across America.

It’s a good thing the NCAA football rules committee waited until now to put the no-tie rule into effect or the athletic scholarships for Tie Detmer at BYU and Tie-rone Wheatley at Michigan probably would have been revoked.

There is so much to think about. By eliminating ties, it’s going to give more teams a chance to reach the six victories against Division I-A teams needed to be eligible for a bowl game.

And near the end of games, if a team scores to get within one point, you’re also going to see a lot fewer coaches go for two-point conversions. In fact, probably nobody will.

Initially and from now on, OT will be OK.

Here’s how the new, no-tie system works. There is a coin toss to begin the overtime. The team that wins the flip chooses the ball or to play defense.

The team with the ball gets it on the other team’s 25-yard line. It gets one possession. Then it’s the other team’s turn at the 25-yard line. It also gets one possession.

If neither team scores, a second overtime begins.

If the first team with the ball scores a field goal, the second team needs a touchdown to win or a field goal to send the game into a second overtime.

There is no clock. There is a great deal of excitement, however. At least that’s the idea. Washington Coach Jim Lambright said he is a big supporter of the no-tie setup because he doesn’t want people to think it’s more entertaining to play Nintendo than to watch a college football game.

We’re not sure if they’ve got Nintendo up there in Pullman yet, but Washington State Coach Mike Price is well aware of the level of excitement associated with overtimes.

Price was involved in five of them when he coached at Weber State in Division I-AA, which already had the rule. He may be getting calls from nine other Pac-10 coaches to ask what the heck to do.

The best advice is don’t punt. The second-best advice is don’t fumble. Price said what you’ll probably see happen is the team that wins the coin toss will elect to play defense. That way, the team that begins on defense will know exactly what it needs to do when it has its turn with the football.

For instance, if the other team scores a field goal, you need a touchdown to win. If the other team didn’t score, all you need is a field goal. If the other team didn’t know the new rule and left the field at the end of regulation, all you need is a couple of kegs to start the party.