Denver ? The new NCAA rules designed to shorten football games are actually diminishing the time-honored experience for fans and players alike, say several Big 12 coaches who are exasperated by the changes.

The NCAA implemented rules this season to keep the clock running more. The result has been an average of 12.6 fewer combined plays, said Ty Halpin, NCAA associate director of playing rules administration.

Some schools, however, have experienced drastic declines in their number of offensive plays. Colorado ran just 48 plays last week against Colorado State in a game that lasted just 2:48, more than 45 minutes shorter than the Buffs’ average game a year ago.

Under the new rules, clocks start on kickoffs rather than when the receiving team touches the ball. After a change in possession, the clock restarts when the ball is marked for play and not the ensuing snap. And kicking tees were shortened by an inch to limit the number of clock-stopping touchbacks.

“I hate it,” said Texas coach Mack Brown. “I just think one of the greatest things about college football was the ability for teams to come back. And now the great plays right before the half, at the end of the game, are more limited than they used to be.”

Brown noted that last weekend’s matchup with Ohio State was 22 minutes shorter than the Longhorns’ big game against the Buckeyes last year.

“A little under 10 percent of the game is gone,” Brown said. “And I don’t think that’s fair to the fans.”

Halpin said the NCAA doesn’t track the time of games, which last year averaged 3:20 for televised games and 3:03 for nontelevised games. Several approached the four-hour mark.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said it was silly to think college football fans want less of a good thing.

“I’m not excited about it. I don’t know that our fans are,” he said. “We have 85,000 people at our games. Many people travel great distances, some travel five to six hours. I don’t know that they come to see a quick game, to see a game played in three hours.”

In Denver, Colorado (48) and Colorado State (58) ran 106 combined plays, the fourth-fewest in a CU game since 1946. In the modern era, the only game that featured a similarly low number of plays was Colorado’s game against Nebraska on Nov. 7, 1961, when the teams combined for 106 plays in a snowstorm in Lincoln.

“You are seeing it have an effect on games, and I think it’s going to have an effect on the overall climate of college football,” Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins said. “I don’t think you’re going to see the dramatic comebacks that you have in the past.”

Comparing this year’s stats to the final 2005 stats, teams averaged 70.6 plays last year per team, and so far that number is 64.3, Halpin said. He acknowledged those numbers could change as teams head into conference play where there are fewer mismatches.

“I’m not saying they’ll end up keeping this for next year,” he said. “If you ask me now, I would think there’s pretty strong sentiment to change back.

“I understand that people are upset about it, and people feel like this has dramatically changed the game for the worse, but I think teams will adjust,” Halpin said. “Everybody’s playing by the same rules. Now, they may not like them, but it’s the same for everybody.”

Indeed, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said that while he understands his colleagues’ concerns, “the clock still stops when you go out of bounds. If you manage it right in the two-minute drill, it can still pay.”

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy is in the minority of Big 12 coaches because he doesn’t mind the new rules, which have resulted in both of the Cowboys’ games lasting less than three hours.

“It’s working. You’re seeing more of an NFL-style game because the clock’s running all the time,” he said. “I think it’s probably here to stay. Most fans want to be out there two, two-and-a-half, three hours. They don’t want to be there four hours. It definitely has affected the game.”