How Long Is A College Football Game? Detailed Explanation!

A college football game often goes on for far longer than an NFL game, which already takes a significant amount of time. A college football game has a game clock of sixty minutes, but you should plan to watch it at home or sit in the seats for three times that length of time in order to get the whole experience.

So, how long is a game of college football game? The solution to your problem may be found on sportda.com. To see more, keep reading!   

How Long Is a College Football Game?

According to data compiled by the NCAA, the typical duration of a college football game clocks in at three hours and twenty-four minutes (including halftime).

The length of college football games is far greater than that of NFL games, which in recent years have varied anywhere from three hours and three minutes to three hours and twelve minutes. Despite the fact that both clocks are set to the same 60-minute rule, there are two primary factors that contribute to this variance.

First, the halftime break in a college football game lasts for 20 minutes, whereas the one in a professional game only lasts for 12 minutes. Because marching bands are such an embedded part of the culture around the game, it is difficult to see that changing anytime soon. In college football, one of the regulations is that the clock must be stopped whenever a team earns a first down.

Additionally, the overtime period in college football is much longer. During the regular season, the National Football League (NFL) features a 10-minute bonus period that may conclude after one touchdown. In contrast, the collegiate game provides the ball to both sides and has gone into seven overtime on five separate occasions. There have been some contests, notably a legendary game between Arkansas and Kentucky in 2003 that have stretched for close to five hours total.

How Many Quarters in College Football?

Every football game is broken up into four halves called quarters. However, the duration of each quarter changes according to the difficulty of the game. At the National Football League and colleges, each quarter lasts for 15 minutes. High school and youth quarters, on the other hand, often last 12 and 10 minutes respectively.

How Long Are Quarters in College Football?

What Is the Average Length of a College Football Quarter? College football games are broken up into four quarters that each last 15 minutes. At the conclusion of the second and fourth quarters of professional football games, a two-minute warning is played, although this is not the case in college football games. We will return to this topic later in the essay.

Why Do College Football Games Last So Long?

These days, almost every game is broadcast in some capacity, which means that they all have TV timeouts and are played for a lengthier amount of time. The duration of TV timeouts as well as the number of them that networks are permitted to air is subject to restrictions. However, since they charge a lot of money to advertisers for those TV spots, you shouldn’t anticipate the frequency of TV timeouts to decrease any time soon.

Injuries, media intervals, replay reviews,  penalties, and halftime interruptions all account for significant chunks of the additional time that add up to make the football game far longer than it would otherwise be. Recent studies have found that the typical length of an NFL game is close to three hours from start to finish.

You may be curious as to why football games take so long than NFL games.

The following are a few factors that contribute to the length of time that college football games take.

Longer Half-Time Shows

The halftime performance is one of the most significant factors that contribute to prolonged game lengths. The National Football League’s halftimes only last for a total of 12 minutes.

There is often some downtime both before and after the actual performance, but the performance itself can’t go on for more than a dozen minutes. At college football games, it is not the case at all; the half-time entertainment may go on for as long as twenty minutes. This is due to the fact that the majority of college half-time presentations involve the marching band.

These are amazing musical performances that combine music with other forms of visual art. There are even collegiate teams that have drum corps ensembles that go on to compete at the national level.

During the break between halves of a college football game, a band may perform, but in most cases, the field is given over to the marching band. As a result of the time commitment required to put up, perform, and then dismantle a marching band performance, these concerts often last for a lengthier duration.

In that sense, there will very certainly be a spectacle that lasts for twenty minutes during the halftime break. There is an increase in total game duration due to the fact that college games are permitted to have longer half-time shows.

Commercial Breaks

College football, just like the National Football League, has a number of commercial interruptions that pause the action on the field. Some people even assert that the length of time that college and NFL games are played is directly attributable to the amount of time that is spent watching advertisements.

The actual playing time of Super Bowl XLIX was just a little bit more than 12 minutes. The remaining minutes were devoted to commercial breaks and the halftime show. Even traditional games have been affected by this pattern, but not to the same extent as other types of games.

The length of time that a commercial airs might range anywhere from five to eight minutes. It is quite easy to lengthen the length of time that the game really lasts since there are multiple commercial breaks interspersed throughout the game.

If there were no commercial breaks during a typical game, it would be impossible to play for more than two hours (including the break). However, it’s quite unlikely that networks would lower the overall number of commercials they air. They may cut the length of the commercials, but the networks can’t cover the expenses without live sports. They will see a decline in income as a result of the reduced quantity of advertisements.

Due to the intense level of competition from streaming services and television networks, they are clinging to what they are certain will bring them revenue. As a result of commercial interruptions, the length of a college football game is far longer than it should be for supporters and spectators.

Extended Overtime

The regulations for overtime also vary greatly between the NFL and collegiate football. If the NFL game goes into overtime, a new 10-minute quarter is added at the end of the game.

The NFL employs the “sudden death” rule during overtime. This implies the winning team is the one that scores a touchdown first. In the event that neither team scores a touchdown within the allotted time, the game is considered a draw. It’s not like that in college football at all.

Each team in a college football game has the opportunity to score a touchdown. Whoever scores a touchdown first is irrelevant. If one team scores a touchdown, it’s more crucial that the opposing team has an opportunity to do the same. If both teams score a touchdown, the game is not considered a draw. The overtime, though, keeps going.

Now it’s time for another attempt at a touchdown from each side. A touchdown by one side and no score by the other is the only way for the game to terminate. When talent levels are equal, overtime in college football may go on for quite some time.

If overtime continues for more than a couple of periods, it may seem to some spectators and supporters that they are seeing a separate football game from the larger one they are watching. The overtime regulations in college football make for much-extended games.

No Time Replay Limits

There is no time restriction on replays in college football. The official may spend as much time as necessary reviewing the play. Although this should lead to more precise reporting, it adds considerable time to the process. When this happens many times throughout a game, it may really slow things down.

Review clocks are one potential solution for cutting down the length of a college football game. This may cause the referee to feel a little more pressure, but it speeds up play on the pitch. If the referee is unable to make a decision within that time range, they have the option of declaring the review inconclusive. When reviews are unable to reach a conclusion, the NFL and college football teams follow certain guidelines. That allows the game to progress and speeds up the process.

Reviewing and replaying plays adds time to college football games until that time comes.

Total Plays

The number of plays is another contributor to the length of college football games. Teams who are able to make several plays and a lot of passes tend to play for a longer total duration. This is due to the fact that they can cover great distances in a short period of time.

On the other side, time is reduced when the ball is run since they are often unable to get that far. Timeouts occur more often and the game takes longer when there are more complete passes and more first downs.

As a result, teams tend to score more often. That lengthens the game since the teams have to trade ends more often. Since commercials may now be shown throughout the broadcast, the game will go even longer. The game will be much more entertaining if teams create plays and score more points, but it will also likely take longer.

Timeouts

Timeouts are handled differently in the NFL compared to college football. Each college football coach has access to three timeouts every half, although their durations vary.

The NFL-style timeout system gives coaches three timeouts before halftime and another three after. Timeouts in college football last for 90 seconds, but just 60 seconds in the NFL. Those 30 seconds may make a big difference in the overall length of the game.

When all timeouts have been used by both sides, this becomes very important. The time limits do not accumulate. The three timeouts a coach has at his disposal in the second half are not increased if he doesn’t utilize them all in the first. This puts pressure on coaches to make the most of their timeouts.

Some games will utilize them to communicate with players. They will be used to cause problems for the opposing squad. One common reason is to simply rest the team’s players.

Timeouts are problematic since they allow a network to air commercials. The timeout that was supposed to last just 90 seconds is now an extended commercial. Extra commercials will be shown if both teams use their timeouts throughout the game. The spectators are also forced to wait since the game must stop until the commercial is finished. College football games are protracted because of the combination of timeouts and commercials.

The game clock stops on each first down!

College football also deviates somewhat from NFL games in how first downs are handled. When a team gets a first down, the clock halts temporarily. There will be some additional time between drives for the squad to get organized. It also gives the defensive team a chance to immediately plan a response to the attacking side’s advances.

Time is wasted if play is stopped after a first down. Some broadcasters capitalize on this by airing commercials. A timeout may be called by a coach. At the very least, pausing the clock gives everyone a chance to take a breather and extends the length of the game.

In order to be ready for the following drive, both teams would have to rush back to the line of scrimmage if the game clock didn’t stop after a first down. Additionally, this would make it harder for networks to covertly insert additional advertisements.

Although coaches may still use timeouts, doing so would be more difficult for them. College football games are lengthy because the clock is stopped after a first down unless the rules are changed. There is no time restriction on replays in college football. The official may spend as much time as necessary reviewing the play. Although this should lead to more precise reporting, it adds considerable time to the process.

When this happens many times throughout a game, it may really slow things down. Review clocks are one potential solution for cutting down the length of a college football game. This may cause the referee to feel a little more pressure, but it speeds up play on the pitch. If the referee is unable to make a decision within that time range, they have the option of declaring the review inconclusive.

When reviews are unable to reach a conclusion, the NFL and college football teams follow certain guidelines. That allows the game to progress and speeds up the process. Review and replay lengthen college football games until that time comes.

FAQs

Conclusion!

So, we get the complete answer to today’s question How Long Is a College Football Game?

College football is renowned for being played for incredibly extended stretches of time. Despite sharing with the NFL a time limit of one hour every game, it often goes on for more than three hours. It’s generally agreed that college football games last the longest of every significant sport played in the United States.

There are several reasons why college football games are longer than professional games, but one of the primary ones is the length and amount of advertisements that are shown throughout the games.