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. |
