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Auburn receiver Sammie Coates runs away from the Alabama defense for a 39-yard touchdown play in Auburn's 34-28 Iron Bowl victory on Nov. 30, 2013, in Auburn, Alabama. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

The NCAA football rules committee on Wednesday proposed a change to rules regarding ineligible receivers downfield that could affect how some read-option offenses operate.

The committee, which announced several recommendations on Wednesday, is proposing that the zone in which linemen can move on pass plays before being declared downfield from 3 yards to 1 yards.

Under a proposal, a lineman who is more than 1 yard past the line of scrimmage when a pass is released would have to be engaged with a defensive player in order for the play to be legal.

"It's going to be easier to officiate," Rogers Redding, the NCAA's national officiating coordinator, told CBSSports.com of the proposal, noting that the 3-yard area causes many defense to read run before the quarterback throws at the last minute.

Some well-known examples were Nick Marshall's 39-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Coates in the fourth quarter of the 2013 Iron Bowl and Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters' 62-yard TD pass to Glenn Gronkowski against Oklahoma last fall.

The committee also called for 8-man officiating crews. With the growth in popularity of fast-paced hurry-up no-huddle offenses, the SEC has experimented with 8-man crews for the past two years.

One issue that wasn't addressed was last year's hot-topic offseason proposal of a 10-second delay before the ball is snapped to slow down no-huddle offenses.

"There's no pertinent data that shows we had a safety problem," Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, the rules committee chairman, told CBSSports.com.

Some other proposals made by the committee Wednesday would:

-- Allow the testing of technology such as helmet cameras, helmet communication systems, and tablets and computers on the sideline in bowl games.

-- Issue a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for players who push or pull opponents off piles.

-- Make players leave the field for one play or their teams to use a time out for equipment infractions such as writing on eye black.

-- Allow the use of instant replay to review whether a player on the kicking team blocked a player on the receiving team before the ball went 10 yards on onside kicks.

-- Make the calling of team time-outs by a head coach reviewable under instant replay at any time.

All rules changes must be approved by the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss these recommendations on March 5.