One of the overlooked controversies from the 2015 season came on opening weekend, where Louisville was playing Auburn in the Georgia Dome as part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff.
Auburn was leading 31-24 in the fourth quarter, and was attempting to run out the clock to secure the win. However, confusion reigned after an offensive holding penalty with 52 seconds left, and it forced Louisville to burn a timeout at a moment where they believed the clock should have been stopped on the field.
While the reaction was that Petrino was an idiot for needlessly using the timeout, Petrino was told the opposite by the officials, as they said that the clock would keep running after the penalty. This allowed Auburn to run out the clock with its remaining downs.
Louisville apparently requested a rule change from the NCAA, and it looks like it has been granted. Under new rules, when the game is in the last two minutes, the opposing team will now have the option to have the clock stopped after a penalty.
RELATED: Bobby Petrino potentially costs team first win of the season
Coach Petrino probably isn't too happy that the rule cost his team a chance at a comeback last year, but he has to be please at the clarification of the rule now. Making this change was definitely a smart move.
Now if only we could get them to work on the targeting rules... but that might be asking for too much at this point.
[H/T SEC Country]
