On Thursday night, Purdue took down Tennessee in the Music City Bowl by a final score of 48-45 in overtime, but it wasn’t without some controversy.
During the game, several Purdue players appeared to go down without serious injury – or any injury at all. Cameras caught at least on Purdue player taking a knee seemingly out of nowhere.
Following the game, reporters asked Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel about the alleged injuries. During his answer, Heupel revealed the officials told him they were in favor of a rule change.
The question: “Josh, do you support some kind of mandatory cooling off period for injured players before returning to the game or is that just the reality of the sport?”
Josh Heupel’s answer: “No, it’s crazy. The officials wanted that tonight. I thought that was pretty comical they came up to me and said that.”
The reporter then asked for clarification. “They said they wanted a rule change?” the reporter asked.
“Yeah. They think there needs to be a rule change,” Heupel said.
Players using injuries as a way to stop the clock in nothing new in college football. A potential rule change, where that player would have to sit out a number of plays could have a positive impact.
It’s unclear if the NCAA would go through with that rule change, though.