Fisher: Pop pass is ruining college football

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It was only a matter of time before college football's "pop pass" controversy heated up once again, and all it took was Ole Miss' 73-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown strike against Alabama to provide the spark.

On the play in question, during the Rebels' 43-37 upset of the Crimson Tide, one Ole Miss offensive lineman appeared to be more than five yards downfield, which would signal to Alabama's defensive players that the play would be a run. But as Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly approached the line of scrimmage, he pulled up and delivered a pass to wide-open receiver Cody Core for the score.

The college rule currently allows offensive linemen to be up to three yards downfield on passes, but many defensive coaches argue that the rule is frequently abused and should be changed to one yard like in the NFL.

During the Southeastern Conference's weekly coaches' teleconference on Wednesday, Alabama coach Nick Saban confirmed that he sent the controversial play in to SEC headquarters this week for review.

"It's a situation where these (passing) plays get blocked like runs," Saban said on the teleconference. "Everybody wants to get it right. We need to be helping the officials to do the best job that they can. Hopefully, we can address this in the future."

While the debate typically is divided along partisan lines -- with offensive coaches lobbying to keep the rule at three yards and defensive coaches objecting -- Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher breaks the mold. He stands firmly with the defensive coaches.

The former offensive coordinator, who still calls FSU's offensive plays, told Warchant Radio this week he was dead-set against those types of plays. He said they make it nearly impossible for linebackers and defensive backs to defend.

"I think it's ruining college football," Fisher told Warchant Radio. "You should be within a yard. I don't like the 3-yard rule we have. I think it's ruining college football, and I think it's bad for the game. It's hard on defenses to play, and I'm an offensive guy."

According to a report Wednesday by veteran college football writer Tony Barnhart on the website Gridiron Now, college football officials will meet Thursday to discuss how the rule is enforced. There will be no changes to the rule during the season, but SEC supervisor of officials Steve Shaw told Barnhart that the referees can do a better job of monitoring how far linemen leak downfield on pass plays.

"This is a national issue and we're trying to solve it," Shaw said.

Fisher and other coaches, however, believe new legislation is needed.

"I think it needs to be changed back to the old rule [where] you have to be within a yard of the line of scrimmage," Fisher said.

Listen to the complete Jimbo Fisher interview on Warchant Radio right here: