College Football Two-Minute Warning: Details For Extra Timeout

There are plenty of new elements in college football for the 2024 season, including another round of college football conference realignment and college football playoff expansion.

There’s also a smaller, game-level change that’s been made, and it’s going to have a real effect on outcomes.

If you’re betting NCAA football odds, you’re going to need to know about the two-minute warning.

Does College Football Have a Two Minute Warning Now?

Yes, it sure does. College football has adopted the NFL rule as an additional time control in the final minutes of the second and fourth quarters. 

Of course, the powers that be are calling it the Two-Minute Timeout, rather than a warning. 

Ultimately, the name doesn’t really matter. They’re the same thing.

Why Don’t They Call It a Two-Minute Warning?

Nobody really knows for sure. Perhaps the NCAA rules committee doesn’t want to draw direct comparisons to the NFL with all the professionalization that’s currently happening inside the ranks of college football.

What we do know is that Rece Davis revealed during the USC-LSU broadcast that he and Kirk Herbstreit “had been asked not to call it a warning.” 

Clearly, specific verbiage is something that the NCAA is considering here. 

“There is a new two-minute timeout. We’ve been asked not to call it a warning.” – Rece Davis 🏈🎙️ pic.twitter.com/URmtnhJM0I

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2024

What Is a Two-Minute Warning?

Some college football fans don’t watch NFL, so they may be unfamiliar with the concept of the two-minute warning.

Essentially, the two-minute warning is an extra timeout built into the second and fourth quarters of a game. Play will stop regardless of how many timeouts are remaining for either team.

If there is no live play at 2:00, there will be a timeout on the field. If there is a live play at 2:00, there will be a timeout immediately following the conclusion of that play. 

The NCAA inclusion of the new two-minute timeout makes it slightly harder for teams to knee out the clock; conversely, it makes it slightly easier for trailing teams to mount a comeback.