Oregon's Late-Game Penalty Against Ohio State May Cause In-Season Action

The Oregon Ducks' late-game penalty may have caused a ripple effect within the college football world.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks on as the No. 3 Oregon Ducks host the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ohio State Buckeyes may have gotten out-coached by Oregon's Dan Lanning in Week 7, and his cleverness may cause a domino effect in college football.

With 10 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter of Saturday's contest, the Ducks head coach called a time out. Surprisingly, Oregon received a penalty for having 12 men on the field despite coming out of a timeout. But Lanning told reporters on Monday that the penalty was planned, as it prevented the Buckeyes from having a big play while chewing four seconds off the clock.

"We have spent an inordinate amount of time on situations. There's some situations that don't show up very often in college football, but this is the one that obviously was something that we worked on, so you can see that result."

- Dan Lanning

Dan Lanning confirms the 12 men penalty was intentional: pic.twitter.com/VPpi8eMAWj

— Tsunami (@Tsunami_TS) October 15, 2024

While Lanning is receiving praise for his strategic play, college football insider Ross Dellenger reported on Tuesday that the NCAA is considering some type of in-season action to address the penalty.

"Steve Shaw, the NCAA secretary rules editor, told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday that the NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee is actively “engaged” in examining the play for possible action. The Big Ten officiating crew handled the play appropriately, Shaw said, but the rules committee is discussing a way to address the play."

- Ross Dellenger

Dellenger also highlighted that in-season rule interpretations are not common during the season. However, it could happen for the 12-man penalty this year.

"Mid-season rules interpretations are not common but they have happened in the past for similar plays that violate a rules committee component — that a penalty should not benefit the team penalized. The goal of any interpretation is to discourage coaches from further exploiting the rules, which can only be changed during a longer off-season process."

- Ross Dellenger

Ohio State was unfortunately the team that had to endure this loophole, but better days could be ahead for the Buckeyes in the rest of the NCAA.