Apr 9, 2010 8:33:20 AM

The NCAA Football Rules Committee is proposing to eliminate wedge-blocking formations of three or more players by the receiving team on kickoffs.

The Football Rules Committee is in its off year for making rules changes, but the group met recently via conference call because it believed an immediate change was necessary to better protect the student-athletes playing the game.

The proposal must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which will meet on a conference call Wednesday. PROP evaluates new rules in terms of effect on the image and integrity of the game, safety concerns, or financial impact on institutions.

A wedge is defined in the NCAA Football Rules Book as two or more players aligned shoulder to shoulder within two yards of each other.

In the proposal, a 15-yard penalty would be called for a team forming an illegal wedge. It will be considered a live-ball foul, regardless of whether there is contact between opponents.

The penalty would be marked from the spot of the foul or from the spot of where the kick returner was tackled if it is behind the spot where the illegal wedge was formed.

The formation of a wedge would not be illegal when the kick is from an obvious onside kick formation.