The fake slide in college football is dead. Long live the fake slide.
Last week, Pitt QB Kenny Pickett set the college football world on fire by taking off against Wake Forest, made it look like he was starting his slide and then got up and took off for what ended up being a 58-year run. The fake slide was awesome, but as I wrote earlier in the week, it needed to be outlawed.
If you train defenders to hold up when they see a quarterback sliding to avoid hitting a QB who gives himself up, then faking it isn’t fair.
Apparently, NCAA officials have agreed. Per Yahoo, football officials national coordinator Steve Shaw sent a bulletin that emphasized the ball-carrier should be declared dead:
Any time a ball carrier begins, simulates, or fakes a feet-first slide, the ball should be declared dead by the on field officials at that point. The intent of the rule is player safety, and the objective is to give a ball carrier an option to end the play by sliding feet first and to avoid contact. To allow the ball carrier to fake a slide would compromise the defense that is being instructed to let up when the ball carrier slides feet first. A fake slide will not be considered reviewable under Rule 12-3-3 – Dead Ball and Loose Ball.
As expected, a fake slide will cause the ball to become dead effective immediately. It is not reviewable. https://t.co/T6xTB1R2Zf pic.twitter.com/iOdx984OZo
— Terry McAulay (@SNFRules) December 9, 2021
Yep, that nails it! Glad this is happening. But let’s take a moment to look back at Pickett’s amazing moment:
KENNY PICKETT FAKED THE SLIDE AND TOOK IT 58 YARDS TO THE HOUSE!!!! pic.twitter.com/cEnk1dFqKR
— ✯✯✯✯✯ (@FTB_Vids_YT) December 5, 2021
RIP.
