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Big 12 implements 'Mike Gundy rule' for 2016 season

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Regardless of how Oklahoma State performs in 2016, head coach Mike Gundy has already made an impact thanks to a new rule change.

One of the main rule changes for the upcoming Big 12 season, as announced by coordinator of officials Walt Anderson on Tuesday, is already nicknamed the "Mike Gundy rule."

The change, another amendment to the NCAA's scrimmage kick formation rule, comes after a creative offensive set the Cowboys unveiled in last season's 49-29 win over TCU. The latest change will require a player stand 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage - moved back from 7 - and it must be obvious a kick will be attempted.

In the above scrimmage kick formation, quarterback J.W. Walsh stood just over 7 yards behind the line. This made any player an eligible receiver provided they stepped on or off the line of scrimmage. Once slot receiver David Glidden remained in position upon snap, tight end Zac Veatch, who was lined up at right tackle, became eligible and caught a 25-yard pass for a first down.

Under the old rule, a set could qualify as a scrimmage kick formation if it was "obvious that a kick may be attempted" - a vague stipulation Gundy and his staff exploited.

The NCAA amended the rule during last season to allow scrimmage kick formations on only third and fourth downs, and now the conference has made the 3-yard change. While the rule is now changed, Anderson was quick to praise Gundy for being so creative.

"If this rule was allowed to stand, everybody would quit recruiting linemen," the veteran official told Mark Cooper of the Tulsa World. "They're just going to put 11 receivers out there and then tell the defense, you figure out who is eligible. I thought it was brilliant."

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