A practical change to ward off injuries? Or a devious plan to slow down tricky offenses? That's the debate raging after the NCAA proposed an anti-up-tempo rule backed by, among others, Nick Saban. The rule was tabled Wednesday after much backlash, but that doesn't mean it's dead forever. If ever enacted, it would penalize offenses for snapping before the play clock hit 29 seconds, thus allowing defenses to substitute on any play -- not just ones on which the offense itself substituted (except in the final two minutes of each half).

Below is a sampling of the Facebook conversation on both stories. Be sure and join in!

• Kelly Turner: "That'll teach that non-SEC team to beat Bama!!!!"


• David Kaufer: "If you can't beat 'em, just change the rules!"


• Steve Knapp: "So does the risk of injury in the snapping the ball quickly just disappear in the last two minutes of the halves? Or do they simply stop caring about the potential injury risk in the last two minutes of the halves? Because if there are significant injury concerns about snapping the ball too quickly, then it should be completely outlawed. Hence, this is a ploy by Saban to manipulate the rules to his advantage."


• Tyrone Flowers: "This rule WILL cut down on injuries (the ones that are faked to slow the tempo)."


• Femi Omoni: "If you're going to cite 'player safety' as the reason for a rule change that is being made for no other rational reason, shouldn't you provide some sort of evidence that uptempo offenses actually cause more injuries? As far as I know, that's simply not true."


• Colin Morton: "I always thought that the best way to keep your defense from getting tired was to keep the other team from getting a first down."