Timing
1. The stadium game clock is official. In case it stops or is operating
incorrectly, the Line Judge takes over the official timing on the
field.
2. Each period is 15 minutes. The intermission between the periods
is two minutes. Halftime is 12 minutes, unless otherwise specified.
3. On charged team time outs, the Field Judge starts watch and
blows whistle after 1 minute 50 seconds, unless television does
not utilize the time for commercial. In this case the length of
the time out is reduced to 40 seconds.
4. The Referee will allow necessary time to attend to an injured
player, or repair a legal player’s equipment.
5. Each team is allowed three time outs each half.
6. Time between plays will be 40 seconds from the end of a given
play until the snap of the ball for the next play, or a 25-second
interval after certain administrative stoppages and game delays.
7. Clock will start running when ball is snapped following all
changes of team possession.
8. With the exception of the last two minutes of the first half
and the last five minutes of the second half, the game clock will
be restarted following a kickoff return, a player going out of bounds
on a play from scrimmage, or after declined penalties when appropriate
on the referee’s signal.
9. Consecutive team time outs can be taken by opposing teams but
the length of the second time out will be reduced to 40 seconds.
10. When, in the judgment of the Referee, the level of crowd noise
prevents the offense from hearing its signals, he can institute
a series of procedures which can result in a loss of team time outs
or a five-yard penalty against the defensive team. |
