When a college football game is tied after four quarters, it goes to overtime. Each team gets one possession starting at the opponent’s 25-yard line, the team with more points after both possessions wins, and there is no game clock. If the score is still tied after two overtimes, teams switch to alternating two-point conversion attempts until one converts and the other does not.
When a college football game is tied after four quarters, the action does not stop. Over time, it takes over, and the format works differently from almost anything else in the sport.
In this guide, I will show you how overtime starts, how each period works, what has changed in recent years, and how college overtime compares to the NFL.
You will also see why coaches make the choices they do when the game is on the line, and how a single rule rewrite turned marathon games into quick shootouts.
How does College Football Overtime Work?
College football overtime starts the moment a game ends regulation tied. There is no sudden death. Both teams always get a fair shot to score.
Each team begins its possession from the twenty-five-yard line of the opponent. The visiting team goes first on offense, then the home team gets their chance.
If the score remains tied after both possessions, another overtime period begins.
Starting in the second overtime, any team that scores a touchdown must go for a two-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point.
Starting in the third overtime, teams stop running full drives and trade two-point conversion attempts instead. Those two rules, both finalized for the 2021 season, are what keep modern games from running on for hours.
Each Team Gets a Possession
Unlike the NFL, where the first team to score a touchdown can win before the other team touches the ball, college football guarantees both teams one possession per overtime period.
Field position is identical for both sides on every snap. There is no game clock during overtime, so a period simply ends after both teams have had their possession.
A play clock still runs, which keeps teams from stalling between snaps.
The Overtime Coin Toss
Before overtime begins, officials bring both teams’ captains, no more than four per team, to the fifty-yard line for a coin toss.
The visiting team calls heads or tails.
The winner of the toss makes one choice: play offense first, play defense first, or pick which end of the field to use for that overtime period.
The decision has to be made right away, with no deferral. The losing team gets whatever option is left.
Why Most Teams Choose Defense First
Most teams choose to play defense first, and the reason is pure information. Going second means your offense knows exactly what it needs to do before it takes the field.
- If the first offense scores a touchdown, the defense knows they must also score a touchdown a field goal will not cut it
- If the first offense scores a field goal, the defense can win with a touchdown or tie with a field goal
- If the first offense scores nothing, the defense wins with any score at all
That information is worth a lot when you are calling plays with the game on the line.
Watching overtime games closely, you can almost always tell a well-prepared staff by how decisively they call the second possession, because they have already done the scoreboard math.
College Football Overtime History: How the Rules Were Born
College football did not always have overtime. Before the nineteen ninety-five season, a tied game simply ended as a tie.
Both teams went home without a winner.
The First Overtime Game
Overtime first appeared in the 1995 bowl slate. The very first overtime game was the 1995 Las Vegas Bowl, where Toledo beat Nevada 40-37 after scoring a field goal on its overtime possession.
That game set the foundation for the entire modern system. Overtime was then adopted for all FBS games starting in the 1996 season, and the basic format stayed in place through the 2018 season.
The Game that Changed Everything
On November twenty-fourth, twenty-eighteen, Texas A&M beat LSU seventy-four to seventy-two in one of the wildest college football games ever played.
The game went seven overtimes, lasted nearly five hours, and tied what was then the FBS record for most overtime periods. It became the highest-scoring game in FBS history and pushed both rosters to their physical limit.
That single game forced the NCAA to act. The rules needed to change to protect players and stop games from running endlessly long.
NCAA Overtime Rule Changes: 2019 and 2021
The Texas A&M and LSU marathon directly led to the first major rule change in twenty-three years.
The 2019 Change
Before 2019, teams could keep running full possessions from the twenty-five-yard line no matter how many periods passed.
Starting with twenty-nineteen, teams switched to alternating two-point conversion attempts beginning in the fifth overtime period.
That cut the number of marathon games significantly but it was not enough on its own.
The 2021 Changes
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved two big changes for the 2021 season.
Change one: Starting in the second overtime period, any team that scores a touchdown must attempt a two-point conversion.
Kicking the extra point is no longer an option. This replaced the earlier version that required two-point attempts starting in the third overtime.
Change two: If a game reaches the third overtime period, teams no longer run full drives. Instead, they alternate two-point conversion attempts until one team converts and the other does not.
These two changes together mean most games are decided before a fourth or fifth overtime period ever happens.
Rule Evolution at a Glance
| Season | What changed |
|---|---|
| Pre-1995 | Tied games ended in a tie. No overtime. |
| 1995 | Overtime debuts in the bowl season. First OT game: 1995 Las Vegas Bowl. |
| 1996 | Overtime adopted for all FBS games. Format holds through 2018. |
| 2019 | Alternating two-point shootout moved up to begin at the fifth overtime. |
| 2021 | Mandatory two-point try after touchdowns from the second OT; alternating two-point shootout from the third OT, run from the 3-yard line. |
First Overtime Period: Full Possession Rules
In the first overtime period, each team gets a full offensive possession starting at the opponent’s twenty-five-yard line. Standard scoring applies.
Scoring Options in First Overtime
- Touchdown: six points
- Extra point kick after touchdown: one point (optional)
- Two-point conversion after touchdown: two points (optional)
- Field goal: three points
- Safety: one point
Teams have full freedom here. They can kick the extra point or go for two after a touchdown. Smart coaches think ahead to the second overtime when making this call.
Timeouts in Overtime
Each team gets one timeout per overtime period. Timeouts left over from regulation do not carry over. An unused timeout from one overtime period also cannot be saved for the next one.
If a team uses a timeout between periods, it comes out of their next period’s allowance.
How First Overtime Ends
If one team outscores the other during the first period, the game is over. If the score is still tied, both teams move on to second overtime, back to the twenty-five-yard line.
Second Overtime Period: The Mandatory Two-Point Rule
Second overtime works just like first overtime with one major difference. The college football overtime two-point conversion rule kicks in here.
Mandatory Two-Point Conversion After Every Touchdown
If either team scores a touchdown in the second overtime, they must attempt a two-point conversion. The extra point kick is gone; no choice allowed.
This changes the math of the game. A successful two-point conversion gives a team eight points total. A failed attempt means only six.
That gap creates real pressure on both sides of the ball. If a team scores a field goal in the second overtime, the two-point rule does not apply. It only triggers after a touchdown.
Why this Rule Matters
The mandatory two-point rule makes it more likely that one team ends up ahead of the other, closing the game out in second overtime rather than pushing it into a third.
It raises the stakes on every touchdown drive and forces defenses to prepare for the two-point attempt before the possession even begins.
Third Overtime and Beyond
If the game is still tied after two full overtime periods, everything changes. No more drives. No more field goals. The NCAA overtime rule changes from twenty-twenty-one fully take over here.
How Alternating Two-Point Attempts Work
Both teams take turns attempting a two-point conversion. Each team gets one attempt per round.
The round continues until one team converts and the other does not. The team that converts wins.
Round one example:
- Team A attempts a two-point conversion successfully
- Team B attempts a two-point conversion but it fails
- Team A wins the game
Round two (if round one ends tied):
- Team A attempts failure
- Team B attempts success
- Team B wins the game
This format is fast, intense, and completely fair. Both teams get the same number of attempts from the same conditions.
College Football Overtime vs NFL Overtime: Key Differences
Many fans know the NFL overtime rules and wonder how college overtime compares. The two systems are very different in some key ways.
| Rule | College Football Overtime | NFL Overtime |
|---|---|---|
| Possession Rules | Both teams always get one possession per period, no matter what the first team scores. | If the first team scores a touchdown in playoff overtime, the game ends and the other team does not get a chance. |
| Sudden Death | Sudden death does not exist at the start because both teams get the ball. | Sudden death can happen if the first possession ends with a touchdown. |
| Game Clock | There is no game clock. A period ends after both teams have had their possession. | A 10-minute overtime period is played with the clock running. |
| Can Games End in a Tie? | No. Overtime continues until one team wins. | Yes, in the regular season, a game can end in a tie if neither team scores in overtime. |
| Multiple Formats | The format changes as overtime continues, moving from full possessions to two-point conversion rules. | The same overtime format is used throughout. |
Famous College Football Overtime Games
Overtime has produced some of the greatest moments in college football history.
BCS Era highlights:
- Two-thousand Orange Bowl: Tom Brady led Michigan past Alabama thirty-five to thirty-four
- Two-thousand-three National Championship: Ohio State beat Miami in two overtimes, thirty-one to twenty-four
- Two-thousand-seven Fiesta Bowl: Boise State used trick plays to defeat Oklahoma forty-three to forty-two in overtime
- Two-thousand-six Orange Bowl: Penn State beat Florida State twenty-six to twenty-three in three overtimes
College Football Playoff highlights:
- Twenty-eighteen CFP National Championship: Alabama defeated Georgia twenty-six to twenty-three in overtime
- Rose Bowl CFP Semifinal: Georgia beat Oklahoma fifty-four to forty-eight the first overtime Rose Bowl ever
- Twenty-twenty-five CFP Quarterfinal: Texas escaped Arizona State thirty-nine to thirty-one in double overtime
Smart Strategy in College Football Overtime
Coaches do not just hope for the best. Every choice in overtime is thought through.
First Overtime Decisions
After a touchdown in the first overtime, coaches weigh the value of a sure one point versus the risk of a two-point attempt.
Going for two sets up a potential eight-point lead, which matters a lot if the opponent also scores a touchdown.
Second Overtime Decisions
With the mandatory two-point conversion in place, offenses call plays with the best chance of converting.
Defenses know the two-point attempt is coming, no matter what; that knowledge shapes every coverage call on the possession.
Third Overtime and Beyond
When games reach alternating two-point attempts, the entire game comes down to one play per round. Short-yardage packages and special plays become the most important tools a coach has.
At the End
College football overtime rules give every fan a clear road to a winner.
From the twenty-five-yard-line possessions in the first two periods to the mandatory two-point conversion in the second overtime and the alternating two-point attempts from third overtime onward, the system is built to be fair and exciting at every stage.
The NCAA overtime rule changes from 2019 to 2021 made games shorter and safer for players without losing any of the drama.
Now that you understand how college football overtime rules work from start to finish, you can follow every call and every play with total confidence.
Save this page and share it with every fan in your crew before the next big game.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Overtime Periods Can a College Football Game Have?
College football has no limit on overtime periods. Games continue through as many rounds as needed until one team outscores the other.
Do Both Teams Always Get the Ball in College Football Overtime?
Yes, both teams are guaranteed one possession per overtime period throughout the first two periods.
What Happens if a Team Scores a Touchdown in the Second Overtime?
If any team scores a touchdown in the second overtime, they must attempt a two-point conversion under the college football overtime two-point conversion rule.
How is the Starting Position Set in College Football Overtime?
Each team starts its overtime possession from the opponent’s twenty-five-yard line. Both teams get equal field position and equal distance to the end zone.
Can a Team Defer After Winning the Overtime Coin Toss?
No. The winning team of the overtime coin toss must decide right away. They pick either offense or defense first, or which end of the field to use.
