Have you ever wondered just how long a college football game is? What about the biggest differences between college and NFL games? How have the recently updated timing rules impacted the length of college football games?
Here’s everything you need to know about how long the average college football game lasts these days.
College Football’s Timing Rules Change
A college football game is the exact same length as an NFL game: 60 minutes. However, unlike professional football, college contests have subtle — albeit significant — differences in their game clock operation that alter the actual length of each match.
Formerly, college football games would stop the clock on any first down and any out-of-bounds play. Only the referee could signal when the clock was to start again, usually doing so only once the first-down markers were reset.
However, as of last year, the rules for college football timing changed to almost mirror that of the NFL. No longer does the clock stop on every single first down or on every play that ends up out of bounds.
College football kept the same first-down and out-of-bounds rules once the clock reaches the two-minute timeout, but the clock will now continue moving after each first down and once the ball is set from an out-of-bounds play.
There used to be no two-minute warning in college football, and though it’s called a two-minute timeout, there is now a break once the clock strikes two minutes remaining in both the second and fourth quarters.
The reason for the break is to institute and signal to teams and officiating crews that the “old” timing rules will go back into effect while also adding to the game’s theatrics.
Previously, each college contest would last around 3.5 hours. That figure was roughly 20 minutes longer than the average NFL game.
However, the new timing rules in college football reduced that average by 10 minutes, nearly closing the gap on the two levels of football in terms of length of play.
How Many Quarters Are in a College Football Game?
Though there are differences in the game clock operations between college football and the NFL, each level of the sport has the same number of quarters in its contests. College football games consist of four quarters like the NFL, but if it goes to overtime, it’s a completely different ball game.
College football’s overtime rules changed drastically in recent years. An overtime period consists of matching possessions for each team, and if the score is different following a singular possession from each team, that team is the winner.
Each team will be given possession at the 25-yard line to score a touchdown or field goal. Normal scoring rules are in play for the first period; however, in the second overtime period, a team must go for a 2-point conversion if they score a touchdown.
From the third overtime period on, each team will take turns attempting 2-point conversion plays from the 3-yard line. Each team will receive one possession per overtime period, in an attempt to match or outscore their opponent. The winner is only declared after the culmination of each overtime period if the scoring is different.
How Long Is Halftime During College Football Games?
With the overall length of the college game being slightly longer than in the NFL, one may expect the halftime period to be longer as a potential culprit. That actually isn’t the case, as college football has always emphasized its halftime period lasting no longer than 20 minutes.
College football halftimes last longer than in the NFL by roughly 6.5 minutes. With the new rules bringing the timing of the actual play on the field down closer to the NFL levels, it’d be no surprise to see the halftime periods stay the same in college for the foreseeable future.
A main reason for that is the amount of plays the student-athletes take part in during college contests. On average, college football games consist of roughly 40 more plays than NFL games, though that number is trending downward to more like 20-25 more plays a game than NFL games.
To combat that, colleges employ longer halftime breaks and larger roster sizes than the NFL’s 53-man roster limit.
