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By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
If you are planning to attend Saturday's University of Hawai'i-Nevada football game at Aloha Stadium, you might want to bring a seat cushion and stock up on goodies because you could be there a while.
With two of the NCAA Division I-A's six most pass-happy teams — UH firing up an average of 54 passes a game and Nevada's new "Air Wolf" lobbing another 42 — this has the potential to be a real long one.
Which is saying something these days in college football, where televised games are already running 15 to 30 minutes longer than the NFL version.
The NCAA doesn't keep statistics on the length of games, but, if it did, UH would surely be among the national leaders. Warriors' games, which have run a UH all-time high of 3 hours, 34 minutes the past two seasons (14 minutes more than the average Western Athletic Conference televised game in 2003), are taking an average of 3:43 this year. While part of that is the 4:04 overtime opener against Florida Atlantic, it also took 3:46 to complete the Tulsa game last week.
All of which are examples of why the powers that be in college athletics should more seriously consider proposals to shorten games before the 4-hour contest becomes the rule rather than the exception.
As it is, with concerns about turning off fans and risking more player injuries, each year the rules committee is presented with proposals that would speed things along. One is to promote faster play by not stopping the clock on first downs. Others mirror NFL rules, such as restarting the clock on the official's signal after a player, who has gone out of bounds, returns.
And, each time, the rules committee blows them off.
"Every year we go in with concerns about how long the games are becoming," said Jim Blackwood, WAC supervisor of officials. "We've proposed 35 rule changes to shorten the games. And, they've all been rejected."
Some are shot down by coaches who see changes resulting in fewer plays per game. Others are doomed by higher-ups who feel television networks want the longer games, the better to insert more commercials. And some athletic officials prefer the extra time for on-field promotional and advertising opportunities.
Beyond the rules, there is also the frequent matter of TV already stepping beyond agreed-upon guidelines and running long on commercial breaks. Something which cash-dependent conferences are timid about cracking down on.
"It is a delicate relationship in that (conferences) have TV partners involved in the product and are trying to be as accommodating as they can," concedes WAC commissioner Karl Benson.
At some point, though, college games are going to approach War and Peace length — if they haven't already — and the consequences that can come with it.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
