How long does a college football game last

This may surprise you: On two of the past three weekends I have attended a high school game on Friday night and a college game on Saturday. And I am going to get right to the point.

The average college football game lasts a whopping 3 hours and 22 minutes, meaning you can expect to stay seated for three times the 60 minutes on the game clock. Thankfully or not, depending on how much you love football , that average may shrink in the future since the NCAA announced a rule change regarding clock management in the season. Starting in , clocks will run after a team makes a first down, unless there are less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in either half. Still, college football games will continue to last longer than high school and NFL games. NFL games typically go on for exactly 3 hours, while high school football games only last between 2 and 2. First off, the main action happens in four quarters, each lasting 15 minutes.

How long does a college football game last

That means a timeout is coming. Here comes a replay review. Add on another couple of minutes. The offense just made a first down. So the clock stops. And uh oh, here comes that official in the red hat onto the field, the dreaded indication another TV timeout is coming. And not a small amount longer. Nor are the long replay reviews. Perhaps, but there is one main, overriding reason why game times have gone up so much lately: passing. The evolution of college football offenses toward being more pass-heavy leads to more scoring, which results in clock stoppages but also more first downs and more incompletions — although incompletions are also down because teams are becoming better at passing, thus leading to all those first downs, touchdowns and field goals. Meanwhile, the number of running plays, which inherently means more times the clock will run after a play, has gone down.

Not only do timeouts stop the game clock, but they also offer teams a chance to regroup, strategize, and catch their breath. The average game time, not counting weather delays, was only nine years ago.

College football games are long and getting longer, outlasting any other professional or top-level college team sports experience. And Power Five conferences are going to do something about that for the season: Ask game officials and stadium operations staff to, pretty please, pick up the pace. But the Pac has taken the first step: It will experiment in non-conference games with a minute halftime break and reduce the number of commercial breaks. Conferences also are not modifying instant replay rules, especially as they pertain to whether a targeting foul has taken place. Player safety continues to trump all other considerations, and SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said that only five targeting fouls were initiated from the booth in that conference last year. The average replay stoppage in the SEC, where games lasted two minutes longer than the national average, was one minute, 26 seconds — almost the same as the year before. One conference, the Mid-American, has set a goal of for the average game, five minutes shorter than that league averaged in

If you are watching or attending a football game for the first time you may be wondering about the length of the game. How long is a football game? The average NFL football game lasts slightly over three hours in length. In recent years, the longest average was in when the average game length was 3 hours and 9 minutes. College football games can be even longer than NFL games. If you are attending a high school or youth football game, you can expect the game length to be much shorter than the NFL or college football. A football game is made up of 4 quarters. The length of these quarters will vary depending on the level of football. A halftime occurs between the 2 nd and 3 rd quarters.

How long does a college football game last

Approximately two hours go by without any action because the teams are interacting on the sidelines. This makes it difficult to get the entire attention of the fans. The longer the game, the less likely fans will be to stick around.

Usps last 4

Typically, halftime lasts about 15 minutes. Sign up for free. So that also could make it difficult to speed it up. Teams head back to their locker rooms for some well-earned rest, maybe a quick bite, and a strategy session for the second half. Starting in , clocks will run after a team makes a first down, unless there are less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in either half. FBS-wide per-game averages both teams. What used to be recruiting has become more like purchasing. Not only do timeouts stop the game clock, but they also offer teams a chance to regroup, strategize, and catch their breath. Copa America. All but 12 lasted longer than the national average. So the clock stops. There are recruiters, lots of them, and assistant recruiters.

The average college football game lasts a whopping 3 hours and 22 minutes, meaning you can expect to stay seated for three times the 60 minutes on the game clock.

His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Its formula for leading the nation in average game times is easy to decipher: The Red Raiders also led the nation in total offense One measure will be when the minute clock starts. Nor are the long replay reviews. They are in a never-ending struggle to keep up with their conference mates. Sports writers despise them. Starting in , clocks will run after a team makes a first down, unless there are less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in either half. You're on the list. Any amount helps us keep producing quality journalism for Mississippi. But the length of games is a looming issue that everyone involved, including the television networks, is interested in exploring.