Kenny Pickett TD prompts NCAA to ban fake slides

Thanks to college quarterback Kenny Pickett, fake slides are now illegal in the NCAA. No, it’s not banned in baseball where sliding into bases is normal, but in college football. After the Pittsburgh Panthers QB faked a slide to go down that ended with him scoring a rushing touchdown, the NCAA stepped in and instructed its referees to end the play as soon as a player slides or makes a move toward sliding (in essence, as if he is surrendering himself).

Pitt QB Kenny Pickett’s fake slide for a TD results in new NCAA ban

The NCAA’s national coordinator of officials, Steve Shaw, sent out a memo with instructions regarding fake slides:

"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."

Shaw also stated that the change applies as a new interpretation of existing rules regarding when a referee should call a play dead. No new rule will be created specifically for the fake slide. Shaw also discussed the NCAA rule book in general and how the NCAA deals with such scenarios:

"I know people think the rule book covers every imaginable scenario, but it does not. In a season I will typically have one, two or maybe three of what we call play interpretations. It just usually doesn’t happen this publicly.”

The new interpretation will take immediate effect for teams playing in this season’s bowl games.

For the play in question, Kenny Pickett’s fake slide froze defenders and opened him up for a 58-yard touchdown run in Pittsburgh’s 45-21 win over Wake Forest in the ACC championship game. Pickett, who is the ACC Player of the Year, admitted that his fake slide was intentional but that he did not plan to do so.

Congratulations to Kenny Pickett, who joins Tom Brady (the tuck rule) as football players whose play on the field caused rule changes and new rule interpretations.