In February, a handful of Oregon Ducks football players met with Nike designers to discuss their ideas for future tweaks to the program's ever-evolving uniforms.



But one look you won't see the Ducks or any team that values its timeouts wearing next fall is the football "crop top," a practice of tucking the jersey underneath pads to expose the stomach or back pads. The style goes back to at least the 1980s. Its latest iteration is now history, too, after the navel-gazing NCAA's Football Rules Committee last week approved a rule that will force a player to leave the field for at least one play to fix the "illegal equipment issue."



If a player chooses to stay in the game with the offending jersey, his team will be docked a timeout to give him the time to fix it.

Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott (15) runs for a touchdown against Oregon while wearing a style of jersey that recently was prohibited by the NCAA.

The most visible practitioners of the look last fall were Baylor's Shawn Oakman and Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, who ran over Oregon for four touchdowns and a national championship-game record 246 yards in the College Football Playoff title game in January.

In doing so Elliott -- his Twitter bio dubs him "the hero in a half shirt" -- became one of the most-recognized faces and midriffs of college football. He'll be back in the fall of 2015 in Columbus. But his preferred jersey style will not.



On Monday morning, Elliott tweeted: "VERY tired of hearing about this new NCAA rule."



The new rule shouldn't curb the fashion sense of any current Ducks. Only a few Ducks have exposed their abs to the world in recent years, beginning with defensive backs Walter Thurmond and T.J. Ward in 2009. More recently, running back De'Anthony Thomas, receiver Josh Huff and safety Eddie Pleasant went for a variant, with their pulled-up jerseys revealing an undershirt during regular-season games.



It wasn't the only alteration to aesthetics that the committee on athletics approved, however, last week, and another will change how some Ducks see the field next fall.





Ducks defensive lineman DeForest Buckner won't be able to wear this kind of facemask in 2015.

The NCAA will prohibit "non-standard/overbuilt facemasks" and follow the NFL's lead, which outlawed the unique designs before the 2014 season. Ducks such as defensive linemen Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner wore such face masks in 2014.

The "illegal equipment" rules were part of a number of other changes officially approved for the 2015 season by the committee last week. They include:

Players who push or pull opponents off piles will be hit with 15-yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.

If a helmet comes off a defensive player in the final minute of a half, 10 seconds will be run off the game clock, and the play clock will be set at 40 seconds. Previously, the play clock was set to 25 seconds.

Teams will be warned by officials when coaches or players move out of their designated area on the sideline.

An eight-person officiating system, with a center judge standing behind the offense, will be allowed if a conference or school chooses. (The Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten all approved eight-official crews before the 2014 season.)

Instant replay reviews will be allowed to see if a kicking team player blocked the receiving team before the ball traveled 10 yards on onside-kick plays.

Teams must be provided at least 22 minutes prior to kickoff for pregame warm-ups, but teams can shorten it if they each agree.

If the play clock runs to 25 seconds before the ball is ready for play, officials will reset the clock to 40 seconds. Previously, the play clock was reset when it reached 20 seconds.

One suggested rules change was notably tabled. It would have altered the ineligible receiver downfield rule from the current three yards to one. It would prohibited ineligible receivers, such as offensive linemen, from being more than one yard downfield from the line of scrimmage on passing plays if they were not "engaged" with a defender, and up to three yards downfield if they were.

According to the NCAA, a majority of responses from FBS head coaches approved the change but only 46 actually commented on the proposal after it was raised in February. Without much discussion on the topic, the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel is instead delaying its decision.

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

503-221-8100

Pictured below: Former Oregon safety T.J. Ward wearing the half-jersey look at Boise State in 2009. (Hat tip to @jaromney for the tip.)