The game between Illinois and Northwestern will feature just one end zone due to space restrictions and concerns over safety.
The Big Ten conference announced in a statement released on Friday that the college football game, played at the legendary baseball stadium Wrigley Field in Chicago, will feature a “unique layout” and set of rules because of the unusual shape of the baseball field.
When the Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini face off this Saturday, there will be only one end zone in commission—the west end zone—with all offensive plays, kickoffs, and field goal attempts going in the same direction.
For turnovers and changes of possession, the ball will be repositioned when the ball is dead. There’s no word on how a play such as an interception for a touchdown—a pick six—will be handled, however.
The Big Ten announced the change less than 36 hours before kickoff, and the league commissioner Jim Delany acknowledged that the rule change was “a little late,” according to USA Today. Officials were concerned that the back of the east end zone was too close to Wrigley Field’s padded brick wall.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes is of the utmost importance,” Delany said in a statement on the Big Ten website, adding that “all parties felt that it was appropriate to adjust the rules to further enhance the safety of our student-athletes.”
Delany insisted that the Wrigley Field football game will be a “once-in-a-lifetime experience for student-athletes, coaches and fans,” but that experience will either be diminished or enhanced with the change, depending on whether the players, coaches, or fans are traditionalists or not.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
The Big Ten conference announced in a statement released on Friday that the college football game, played at the legendary baseball stadium Wrigley Field in Chicago, will feature a “unique layout” and set of rules because of the unusual shape of the baseball field.
When the Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini face off this Saturday, there will be only one end zone in commission—the west end zone—with all offensive plays, kickoffs, and field goal attempts going in the same direction.
For turnovers and changes of possession, the ball will be repositioned when the ball is dead. There’s no word on how a play such as an interception for a touchdown—a pick six—will be handled, however.
The Big Ten announced the change less than 36 hours before kickoff, and the league commissioner Jim Delany acknowledged that the rule change was “a little late,” according to USA Today. Officials were concerned that the back of the east end zone was too close to Wrigley Field’s padded brick wall.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes is of the utmost importance,” Delany said in a statement on the Big Ten website, adding that “all parties felt that it was appropriate to adjust the rules to further enhance the safety of our student-athletes.”
Delany insisted that the Wrigley Field football game will be a “once-in-a-lifetime experience for student-athletes, coaches and fans,” but that experience will either be diminished or enhanced with the change, depending on whether the players, coaches, or fans are traditionalists or not.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
