College football clock to run after first downs as NCAA approves rule change

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College football will look a little different for the 2023 season. 

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved changes on Friday that will allow the clock to run after first downs — except for in Division III — starting next season, according to ESPN.

A Pac 12 conference TV timeout clock is seen during a game between the Stanford Cardinal and the USC Trojans at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Sept. 11, 2021. (Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The clock will stop during the last two minutes of each half after first downs. 

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"That's important," said Steve Shaw, NCAA secretary rules-editor and officials coordinator, "because the beauty of the difference in our game, and it allows a team late in the game, even without timeouts, to have a chance to advance the ball and come back and that sort of thing. So we're still going to stop it in the last two minutes."

The college football tradition has been for the clock to stop after first downs until the chains are set, separating itself from the NFL game. 

A down marker shows first down during the game between the Memphis Tigers and the UTSA Roadrunners at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sept. 25, 2021.  (Chris McDill/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Two other changes were also approved on Friday, as teams will not be allowed to call consecutive timeouts and penalties at the end of the first and third quarters will be applied on the first