Game clock

[jwwashburn]

No, this was a clear case off the incomplete pass out of bounds and the whistle and signal and the clock ran more than ten seconds. I wish I remembered which game it was...I can barely remember my dog's name.

Joe in Michigan

[jaybird]

I knew, of course, that only some whistles stop the clock in football.

When?
Whistles don't stop the clock, signals and/or the play stops the clock.

[HLin NC]

the announcers made note of it

Easily the most UN-informed individuals connected with a college game. Never depend on ANYTHING they say in regards to the rules of football.

[bossman72]

Another reason there may be a delay is that in basketball, the time keeper is right there court side and can hear every whistle (and as noted before, it always stops on a whistle).

In the press box (not positive) but you probably cant hear the whistles too too well. Also, you have to look at seven different officials to see one of them giving the "stop the clock" signal, which is not always where the ball is (like on a penalty), which would cause a couple seconds to run off.

[Warrenkicker]

The official game clock almost never runs after it is supposed to have stopped. The clock operator would not have a job for long if he constantly did this. Now if you are comparing the clock that a TV broadcast puts on the top of the screen compared to the game then you are talking about something completely different. This clock on the top of the screen is not connected to the game clock. It is just for reference and another TV person is in charge of turning it on and off at the same time as the stadium clock. Sometimes they forget and you can see it running for many seconds after it should have been stopped. In those situations it is just catching back up to the official game clock.

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by Warrenkicker

The official game clock almost never runs after it is supposed to have stopped. The clock operator would not have a job for long if he constantly did this. Now if you are comparing the clock that a TV broadcast puts on the top of the screen compared to the game then you are talking about something completely different. This clock on the top of the screen is not connected to the game clock. It is just for reference and another TV person is in charge of turning it on and off at the same time as the stadium clock. Sometimes they forget and you can see it running for many seconds after it should have been stopped. In those situations it is just catching back up to the official game clock.

With current technology, the clock displayed on TV is often connected directly to the official game clock. You'll see that more and more in the future.

[Warrenkicker]

Perhaps it is on some networks or at least at certain levels, NFL only. However I have personally seen college games on ESPN this season where the clock continued running for almost 10 seconds after the ball went OOB and the announcers stated at the end of the play that there were now "this" many seconds left but the clock on the TV had yet to count down to that number.