I was also thinking about this. The scoreboard is just a clock display represented in seconds. The clock, being a modern digital clock, has to run at some high precision. So let's say a random play in the first quarter results in an incomplete pass dead ball.

Posted on September 8, 2026 at 08:08:19 PM by LewisBullox (edited September 8, 2026 at 08:10:00 PM)

If the scoreboard clock says 7:32, does the actually underlying clock says something like 7:31.812? In that scenario, it is at least plausible that 0:09 didn't mean 0:09.000 and that it was internally starting from less than 0:09 but more than 0:08.

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Lewis B makes a good point below. Because the quarter ends the moment the clock dips below 0:01, that means the final second disappears and each game loses 4 seconds of game time - By syrfan September 8, 2026 at 07:40:02 PM
- Well, that wasn't my conclusion. That was just following what you said to its conclusion. IMO if the clock starts at 0:09 it shouldn't change for one second so that 0:09 means 9 seconds not 8.* - By LewisBullox September 8, 2026 at 07:47:05 PM
  - So what happens at start of quarter? - By syrfan September 8, 2026 at 07:48:35 PM
    - nobody knows because you can't know exactly when it started, but presumably yes it hangs at 15:00 for 0.99 seconds after being started* - By DoctorD September 8, 2026 at 08:11:15 PM
    - I literally don't know. If I were in charge it would hold for a second or we would measure in tenths or finer.* - By LewisBullox September 8, 2026 at 07:50:22 PM
- What? The decimals are effectively passing between 1.0 and 0.0 seconds* - By mjhollen September 8, 2026 at 07:42:29 PM
  - There are no decimals in football - quarter is over as soon as clock dips below 1 second* - By syrfan September 8, 2026 at 07:47:12 PM
    - I know you know that tenths of a second do in fact transpire whether the clock is showing them or not. But why do you (and many others) keep saying “there are no tenths of a second in cfb?” - By mjhollen September 8, 2026 at 07:57:38 PM
      - I was also thinking about this. The scoreboard is just a clock display represented in seconds. The clock, being a modern digital clock, has to run at some high precision. So let's say a random play in the first quarter results in an incomplete pass dead ball. - By LewisBullox September 8, 2026 at 08:08:19 PM
  - nm* - By mjhollen September 8, 2026 at 07:44:10 PM
- Correct. They also use a red light.* - By maestro September 8, 2026 at 07:41:56 PM
- There should be a leap quarter to account for this (nm) - By danny September 8, 2026 at 07:41:09 PM
  - Lol* - By jjwalker September 8, 2026 at 08:28:12 PM
- I had no fucking clue that the official clock used a decimal and that's a huge problem. Put a decimal on the stadium clock, mandate it, asap* - By Daytripper September 8, 2026 at 07:40:40 PM
  - The official clock doesn’t have a decimal. It’s inexplicably forbidden by NCAA rules.* - By mjhollen September 8, 2026 at 07:44:52 PM

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I was also thinking about this. The scoreboard is just a clock display represented in seconds. The clock, being a modern digital clock, has to run at some high precision. So let's say a random play in the first quarter results in an incomplete pass dead ball.