The Pigskin
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2013 Week 3 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.
The video page will continue bringing you clips each week which are good teaching material as we all work together to understand and enforce the sometimes complicated NCAA football rules. The videos are not meant to demean or belittle any official. They are used so that ALL officials can learn from the situations and issues other officials encounter in their games. No official has ever completed a career error-free. But by sharing our errors with others we help them avoid the same pitfalls. NCAA football officials at all levels exhibit incredible rule knowledge week in and week out. We can always get better and this page hopes to serve in that effort.
Last week's survey play featured a KCI call that generated considerable debate within the officiating community. That is not surprising since the results of our survey on the play revealed 54% said KCI was warranted while 46% said that it was not. You would have thought we were holding a Presidential election. This survey was answered by 175 persons. Football remains a CONTACT SPORT and when players do not want to be hit, there are things they can do to avoid it. But, trying to use trickery is not one of the ways they should do that.
12 Players on the Field During a Punt At times, players will realize they are supposed to be on the field (or think they are supposed to be on the field) and run out very late. The rules address this situation and do not allow replacement players to enter the field while the ball is in play, even if they are the 11th player, much less if they are the 12th, or 13th, or etc. One of the more complicated penalty enforcement situations is when there is a penalty during a scrimmage kick down. Rule changes this year simplified it in some regards but complicated it in others. This video combines the late arriving player and a scrimmage kick to create an interesting situation. Please view the video and take the poll below. (Please remember to scroll down and click on the DONE button after making your choice.)
Unique Ending Anyone who has officiated any length of time knows there will be times when a situation is so unique and bizarre that handling it perfectly will be difficult if not impossible. This video of a game ending situation should draw empathy from officials who know that they, if placed in the same situation, may have fared no better. There has been discussion about how this could have been handled differently, to include penalizing the defense for preventing the ball from being made ready for play quicker. The best recommendation was to remind officials of Rule 3-3-1-a, "The referee may declare and charge himself with a discretionary timeout for any contingency not elsewhere covered by the rules." There was legitimate confusion over whether the ball was loose or not. Shutting the clock down long enough to make clear the runner was down before releasing the ball may have given Team A enough of a chance to get their team to the line and spike the ball to gain one last down for a field goal attempt.
IBW and Announcer Confusion This year's rule change regarding blocking below the waist is still a work in progress for many officials. However, officials are cautioned against listening to most broadcaster's descriptions of the rule as they try to learn it. In this play, A57 is an UNrestricted blocker at the snap. He is permitted to block low from "9-3" in the Low Blocking Zone (LBZ) as long as the LBZ exists. The LBZ extends 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. It also exists as long as the ball has not left it. In this play, the block occurs 5 yards from the line of scrimmage and the runner is still within the LBZ at that time. A57 should be permitted to block "9-3".
Field Goals and Instant Replay Field goals are subject to instant replay review (12-3-1-b) in certain situations. Perhaps we should just allow the fans behind the goalposts make the call as they may have a better angle than us as we stand on the ground looking straight up with badly bent necks.
Targeting Reviewed Targeting continues to be a hot topic for players, coaches, fans, media, and officials. Each week of this young season there have been targeting calls with the mandatory disqualifications being announced and then instant replay reviewing. In some cases, the disqualification portion of the penalty has been overturned although in ALL cases, the 15 yard penalty must remain. Explaining why this is the case is difficult and requires great diplomacy. While officials may also think this is illogical, we must remember that if instant replay gets too heavily involved in reversing entire foul calls, where will it stop? Will instant replay eventually be asked to determine if the defense was in the neutral zone before the offense flinched? Some things must be left to the officials on the field. Allowing a 15 yard penalty to stand for what an official judged to be a targeting foul, even though replays clearly show the key components of targeting were not present, is no different than a facemask call when replays prove it was the runner's jersey or shoulder pads that were grasped and turned. Perhaps a happy medium would be to bring back the concept of "flagrant" targeting versus targeting. An official who calls an act a "flagrant" targeting with a disqualification would see his call reviewed by instant replay and the possibility the "flagrant" component could be removed. "regular" targeting calls would only carry the 15 yard penalty and no instant replay review. It is understood there are forces who would like nothing more than to eliminate this sport. Those forces must see the rule makers making some effort to eliminate the most dangerous hits or they will act in ways that are even more threatening to the sport. But the current solution does not seem to be supportable for long. Play 1 Play 2
Inadvertent Signal and Fumble Rule 4-1-2 is a rule many officials choose not to discuss or think about as they fear doing so will increase the chances they will have the dreaded inadvertent whistle. Officials are reminded the rule also covers inadvertent signals. Any signal that the ball is dead, causes it to become so. That would include the dead ball signal, a score signal, an incomplete pass signal, a touchback signal and a timeout signal. In this play, the covering official signalled a score before the runner actually broke the goal line plane with the ball. The explanation given by the R was somewhat confusing in that it did not mention the inadvertent signal. That confusion is compounded by an apparent dispute between the rule and the instant replay casebook. 7-2-5 says that when a fumble comes to rest and no player attempts to secure it, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the fumbling team at the dead ball spot. 8-2-1-c says that when a fumble is awarded in the opponent's end zone, a touchdown shall be scored. But, the Instant Replay Casebook, Play 125, has this: Fumble at a goal line: First and goal on the B-5. A22 runs to B’s goal line, loses the ball prior to it breaking the plane of the goal line, and the officials rule touchdown. The ball comes to rest in the end zone with no player attempting to recover it. Ruling: Reviewable play, regarding whether A22 scored a touchdown before he lost the ball. Reverse to no score, A 2-Goal on B-1. If the ball becomes dead in the end zone with no team possessing it, the ball is placed at the spot of the fumble. If the ball is dead in the field of play, the ball is placed at that spot (Rule 12-3-1-a and 12-3-3-d).
Penalty Enforcement and the 3 and 1 The entire crew is responsible for correct penalty enforcement. not just the white hat. In a crew of 7 officials, someone should be able to step up and correct a basic penalty enforcement error. When Team B manages to stop team A behind the line of scrimmage but Team B has committed a Basic Spot foul while doing so, Team A is supposed to be given not only the penalty yardage but the yardage back to the original line of scrimmage since that is where the penalty should be enforced from, not the end of the run. In this play, the foul was by the team NOT in possession so whether their foul was behind or beyond the Basic Spot, enforcement is from the Basic Spot. The Basic Spot on running plays when the run ends BEHIND the neutral zone is the Previous Spot. Team A lost 4 yards they were entitled to in this play when the penalty was enforced form the end of the run.