The Pigskin
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2014 Season Clips (3)
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The video page will continue bringing you clips which are good learning 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.
The last installment of video plays featured a poll play looking at OPI. The "crew" looked at the video and 87% said it was OPI. Only 13% said it was not. None of thoise who said NO FOUL, provided comments so it is not known why they would not rule OPI on the play. This may be a record for consistency in our poll plays. 87% agreement (272 total responses) is a significant show of consistency.
The Head Linesman catches the facemask foul near the end of the run. But what about the block by A84 and A24 at the B-35? Is this a legal block? How would you rule on this play? Would any officials beside the Head Linesman be able to assist on this action? Please view this play video and take the poll. (Please remember to scroll down and click on the DONE button after making your choice.)
Years ago "do overs" were normally only done when an official had an inadvertent whistle during play. But as clock rules and substitution rules have evolved, we have seen more and more examples of officials using "do overs" to "make things right. This clip shows an example of a "do over" that was made necessary due to the crew not handling the substitution process correctly. The Center Judge was holding the offense from snapping as Team B matched up following a Team A substitution. The video reminds us that not only do we need to permit the incoming Team B sub(s) a chance to get in position, we must also hold the snap until B's replaced players are off the field.
Not sure what confused this crew. Perhaps it was the recent change regarding PSK enforcement or perhaps the rule permitting "tack on" enforcement for certain Team A fouls on scrimmage kicks. Regardless, the enforcement error is on the entire crew as any one of them could have stepped up to get this right. Running into the kicker (and rouging the kicker) are not postscrimmage kick enforcement fouls. They have a specified enforcement spot, the previous spot. Also, "tack on" enforcement on scrimmage kicks only applies to Team A fouls. Luckily, it appears they quickly learned from the mistake as they enforced the same foul differently a short time later. Running Into the Kicker 2
Experienced officials know offenses have a variety of plays they will use in goal line situations designed to get a receiver open for an easy pass completion. Those officials know to pay particular attention to receivers crossing paths with one another as their is a strong possibility one of the receivers will contact a defender thus freeing up the other receiver for a pass. This crew caught the illegal action by the receiver here. It is the offensive player's responsibility to avoid contact. In this 2d example, the receiver made very, very slight contact but could have easily avoided all contact by not raising his right arm into the defender. It is noted, there is always the possibility of having a defensive pass interference, even after an offensive interference. Some officials may have viewed the contact by B against the intended receiver as defensive pass interference. Had that been flagged, the result would have been offsetting fouls, and a replay of the down.
We can only imagine where this will go. A few weeks ago controversy erupted after a team was penalized for wearing what were deemed to be illegal jerseys. They had a slogan on the nameplate area instead of player names. Allegedly a document was produced during the game that indicated they had permission from someone to do so. And now this example from another university has occurred. In this case there was clear authorization from the NCAA prior to the game so the jerseys were allowed to be worn. Now that waivers have started being granted, where will it stop?
Good work here by the Umpire to catch a "pile picker". This conduct is not legal, and worse, can lead to retaliation and more issues down the line if not dealt with. There is no reason at all for the block by A67 so it is good work to flag the foul.