2012 Season Week 8 Clips
TECHNICAL NOTE: For those not aware, when viewing these videos in the You Tube window, you can adjust the resolution for a sharper view. Notice in the lower right hand corner of the video player window a setting icon that looks like a gear. Click on that and you can adjust the setting up to 360p, 480p or even 720p in some cases. This will give you a sharper image.
Poll Results:
Week 7's poll featured a play with 2 issues, a possible horse collar tackle and possible illegal motion. 120 folks responded and 78% said there was no horse collar tackle. The most frequently cited reason for the "no foul" call was the viewer believed the ball carrier was in the tackle box. 96% of our viewers believed there was illegal motion on the play.
Unnecessary Roughness? There has been lots of attention and focus given to high hits on defenseless players and we know that by definition, a player who has just tried to complete the catch of a pass is "defenseless." But what about hits on these players which are not high? Can they still be a foul? Observe B5. Was his hit legal? Please view the video and then take the poll that follows.
Offsetting Penalties Plus Sideline Interference This play is an example of a well-officiated situation. The offense had an ineligible received downfield. The defense committed pass interference. Furthermore, the offensive team had bench personnel clearly in the restricted area near the H while the ball is live. This is a foul which is sometimes ignored but which should not be as it places both the official and the bench personnel in serious jeopardy of injury. It is noted this is no longer called a "sideline warning" but is correctly announced as "sideline interference" and since this was the first such foul against Team A, it qualified for a 5 yard penalty. The correct signals would be just S21 (Delay of Game) and S29 (Sideline Interference). Although the penalty for this foul is administered as a dead-ball foul, it is actually only a foul if it happens while the ball is live. (9-2-5)
Facemask on a Pass Play In this play there was a facemask foul committed by Team B before a pass was thrown. Under the 3 and 1 principle (Rule 2-33), the penalty for this foul, which happened on a pass play, should be enforced from the previous spot. (10-2-2-d-3) In this play, the pass was completed for an 11 yard gain. However, the penalty was enforced from the end of the run, giving Team A 15 more yards. Team A should have just been given the 15 yard penalty from the previous spot with an automatic 1st down. Some officials may say that since the foul took place on the player who passed the ball, roughing the passer could be called. In that case, the penalty could have been enforced from the end of the run.(9-2-9) However, by definition, the player becomes a passer when the ball is released. Until then he is just a ball carrier.
Intentional Grounding ? The watering down of the rule prohibiting a passer from intentionally throwing the ball away to avoid loss of yardage has created greater disadvantage to the defenses. (7-3-2-f). All the passer has to do is throw the ball "into an area where there is an eligible Team A receiver." The viewer can decide for himself if there is such a player in this video clip. There does appear to be one within 9 yards of where the ball landed. A 2011 CFO bulletin on Intentional Grounding suggests 7 yards could be sufficiently close in some situations. In this play, the pass lands at about the A-4. A81 (the player mentioned by the referee) is on a line from where the pass landed, about 9 yards away. The left tight end (A89) is about 4yards away and was going in the direction where the pass was thrown. It is also noted the QB may have actually taken the ball outside the tackle box to the right before going back to the left and flipping the ball away. Since the ball did land beyond the neutral zone (barely), the QB would have not fouled, even if there was no eligible Team receiver in the area.
Illegal Advance After Fair Catch Signal ? Rule 6-5-2 prohibits Team B players from carrying a caught or recovered bal more than 2 steps in any direction after any Team B player gives a valid or invalid fair catch signal. It does not prohibit Team B from "trying to advance" the caught/recovered ball. Did this Team B player carry the ball 2 steps after gaining possession? Once again the announcers do not completely understand the rule so do not be confused by their comments.
Illegal Participation vs. Illegal Substitution (but not "Ineligible Downfield") There has been considerable discussion about the correct way to handle situations where Team B has too many players on the field and the snap is imminent, or has just occurred. Rule 3-5-3-b tells officials to stop the action if the snap has just occurred. It appears that is what happened on this play. Team B is guilty of a "substitution infraction" (signal 22) There is no longer an "illegal participation" foul in NCAA. Had the Team B player been much closer to his sideline and not in the middle of the Team A formation, perhaps the officials would have let the play run. Team A might have been able to score amidst the Team B confusion and even if they did not, there would still be a foul for the excess player leaving the field of play while the ball was live so team A could have accepted that penalty and played the down again. (3-5-2-b)
Chop Block in Space This is a great example of a foul that is not often seen, a chop block "in space". Most chop blocks are at or near the line of scrimmage but they are just as illegal anywhere on the field. Good officiating here to catch this illegal, and dangerous block. (And a chop block is not limited to combination blocks when the 2d block is low as described by the announcer. If the 1st block is low and the 2d high, that is also a chop block. 2-3-3)
"Do Over" In this play, Team had substituted and team B was trying to react with subs of its own. Before the U could get to the snapper to prevent him from snapping, the ball was snapped. In accordance with the prescribed substitution rule mechanics ( SubstitutionRuleMechanics.pdf ) the action was stopped and a "do over" was declared.
Unfair Acts There has been more than 1 time already this season when one team mistakenly thought the game was over and charged the field. This is an emotional game. In fact, one of the greatest parts about football is that it is a game wherein there can be near unbelievable violence and aggressiveness which must be quickly turned on and off in order to stay within the bounds of the game. The same is true for the emotion and joy that can come from thinking you have won the contest. That emotion must be tempered by the reality of the moment and only expressed when it is truly time to do so. In this play, team A was losing 14-7. On what should have been the last play of the game, team A fumbled and B recovered. However, since the recovering player was not down, the ball was live and he started to run towards the end zone instead of just falling to the ground. As he did so, some of the bench personnel from his team stormed the field. The officials correctly flagged these non-players for this action. When the ball became dead, the crew enforced the penalty from the previous spot and gave Team A one more untimed down. Team A scored a TD, making it 14-13. They then attempted a 2 point conversion which was successful, giving them a 15-14 win. Rule 9-2-3-a prohibits any person other than a player or official from interfering in any way with the ball, a player, or an official. The penalty for this "unfair act" is whatever the referee deems equitable which could include directing the down be repeated, assessing a 15 yard penalty, awarding a score, or suspending or forfeiting the game. This is a serious offense and teams MUST stay off the field until the referee declares the game over.