2010 Post-Season Week 1 Clips  

                                                            Ball Warmer     Mechanical ball-drying devices are not permitted near the sidelines or in the team area.  (1-3-1-i)  What about ball warming devices?

                                                           Mouthpieces      All players must wear an intra-oral mouthpiece of any readily visible color (not white or transparent).  (1-4-4-d)  Multiple sources have reported properly fitted  mouthpieces can help prevent concussions in contact sports.  Perhaps the NCAA will be more aggressive in the enforcement of mandatory use of mouthpieces in view of the recent emphasis on concussion prevention and management.  Sometimes players take their mouthpieces out between downs and reinsert them over the teeth after the ready-for- play but that does not appear to be the case here.

                                                            Blocking in the Back When Ball is Loose   Players may PUSH in the back above the waist when legally attempting to reach a runner or catch/recover a fumble, muff, backward pass, kick, or touched forward pass.  (9-3-3-c Exc 3)  If you judge the block was just to keep an opponent from reaching the ball it is a foul.  In this play B14 blocks in the back immediately after the blocked kick and recovers the ball.    The PUSH is legal, but a block using the shoulder or other part of the body would not.

                                                            Defense Causes Incompletion  This is a good example of an airborne receiver who possess the pass but is contacted and comes to ground out of bounds, resulting in an incompletion.   (2-2-7-a-3)  We do not need to judge whether or not he would have landed in bounds without the contact. 

                                                            Substitution Process    We have discussed late subs by the defense previously.  This play shows the proper  way to handle the situation. Note, in the first few seconds of the
clip, a Team B player coming off the field of play at the bottom of the screen. He is at the field just as the ball is snapped.  This is a live ball foul.   Some conferences appear to have adopted a philosophy, not supported by rule,  regarding the defensive team's substitution process.  If the defense substitutes, the replaced player must begin to leave his huddle or position within 3 seconds.  But what if the replaced player is leaving and it appears the snap is imminent?  Some conferences have apparently decided to judge the defender would be unable to leave the field in time and are stopping the snap and assessing a dead ball substitution infraction foul against the defense.  By rule, this should be a live-ball foul (3-5-2-b), not a dead ball foul.   

                                                            Out of Bounds Hits   Many defenders apparently believe they are allowed to give a runner a "little shove" even when they are clearly out of bounds.  There are 2 examples here of good work by crews penalizing this illegal behavior.  (Notice the very nice "synchronized" flagging by the R and the flank in the 1st play.  ;-) )   Play 1     Play 2 

                                                          Post-Scrimmage Kick Enforcement  One of the conditions for a foul by Team B to be considered for PSK enforcement is that the foul occur during the kick (before it is caught or recovered).  However, However, the foul must also occur 3 or more yards beyond the neutral zone to qualify for the enforcement (10-2-3).  Fouls in the neutral zone or behind it do not qualify for PSK enforcement.  (NOTE: Although fouling player was announced as #23, it was later determined the foul was actually on #32.  In this clip, B32 is the defender who falls down on the hashmark @ the B-42) 

                                                           Trick Play Formation   This clip is posted after inquiries by some who question the legality of this formation.  The specific issue is the legality of  A23.  When the snap starts, all Team A players must be legally on the line of scrimmage or in the backfield, with the exception of one player who can be neither but must be in position to receive a hand-to-hand snap from between the snapper's legs.   (7-1-3-b-1)  A23 is supposed to be in the backfield.  To be legally in the backfield, none of the Team A player's body or head can break the plane of a line drawn through the rear-most part (other than the legs or feet) of the nearest Team A player on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped (2-27-4-b).    You make the call.

                                                            Illegal Formation ?    Team A is prohibited from having more than 4 players in the backfield at the snap and can have nobody who is neither a lineman nor a back.  (7-1-3-b-1)  Do you see more than 4 in the backfield or any "mugwomps" (a mugwonp is a player who is neither legally a back nor a lineman).