Coaches Rules Group May Change Platoons

The rules committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association opens a three-day meeting today with only little prospect of a change in the two-platoon system. Although the free substitution rule is near the head of the agenda, it was passed by the full NCAA convention in Cincinnati.

Besides a possible change in substitution, the committee will discuss clipping, use of elbows in blocking, and the fair catch. The group may re-write the clipping rule so that it would be illegal to hit above the waist, and bring back a half-the-distance-to-goal-line elbowing penalty.