A couple of rules questions

[stlrnhwk]

#1 When Indiana broke the huddle or were lined up, they'd have 3 players, in uniform come 5-10 feet onto the field and give signals to the QB. I thought you couldn't break the huddle with more than 11 men on the field? Doesn't this carry over to the snap? Should they not have been called for illegal procedure? You can't run guys on and off the field when lined up.

#2 The penalty on Morse. Ed on the radio was saying that it shouldn't have been a penalty as long as Morse wasn't moving forward. It was a situation where Morse was moving to the left and lining up behind Moeaki.


Not complaining about the refs, just some things I noticed that seemed strange.

 

[hawkfan2679]

#1 When Indiana broke the huddle or were lined up, they'd have 3 players, in uniform come 5-10 feet onto the field and give signals to the QB. I thought you couldn't break the huddle with more than 11 men on the field? Doesn't this carry over to the snap? Should they not have been called for illegal procedure? You can't run guys on and off the field when lined up.

#2 The penalty on Morse. Ed on the radio was saying that it shouldn't have been a penalty as long as Morse wasn't moving forward. It was a situation where Morse was moving to the left and lining up behind Moeaki.

On the first one, I don't think they truly "huddled" and that's why they were able to get away with it. They would run wide receivers into the game who wouldn't even go to the middle of the field...they would run about 15 feet from their sideline to their spot on the field. I think (emphasis on think) that anybody coming on the field has to come inside the top of the numbers to draw any sort of infraction. I saw the ref talking to one of the Indiana players about this once...the WR came onto the field and got into his position wide right outside the numbers. The ref said something to him, so he moved inside the numbers, then right back to his position outside them wide right. I know in HS you have to come inside the hashes...in college I think it's the numbers.

On the second one, I'm not sure I remember that one. There was a play when one of our TE's/FB's (couldn't tell) went in motion, but then Rick changed the play...I think the guy in motion momentarily thought Rick was calling the snap count, so he flinched. Is that the play? Judging by your description I don't think that's what you were referring to, but it's the only one I could remember.

 

[tubahawk]

I'll also add my complaint of the the Indiana coach on the field. I don't think he left the playing field the whole game. Every, and I mean EVERY time the camera was on him he was 2 -3 yards deep on the field.

 

[stlrnhwk]

Thanks hawkfan,

are there rules around once you're set? They'd come to the line in their position, and then look to the sidelines, at that point the 3 QB's would come out onto the playing field and make their signals.

 

[hawkfan2679]

are there rules around once you're set? They'd come to the line in their position, and then look to the sidelines, at that point the 3 QB's would come out onto the playing field and make their signals.

A lot of teams do that now, which they have allowed in the past. The 3 QB's didn't come far enough on the field, and retreated as soon as their signals were complete, so there was no issue. At least that's my take on it...

 

[OdontoHawk]

I saw this post and I just had to register to respond to it. I am a high school football official and I was at the game and witnessed both things you posted about. While I am not a college official, the rules are very similar in regard to these two issues.

#1 If I remember right on this play, the Hawks were late getting the play in to Stanzi and they kind of needed to rush to get to the line of scrimmage to get the play off. As the players were going down into their stance our left flanker went into motion. The rule states that all players must be set for a full second before a single player may go in motion. since we did not have time to all get set the call would be an "illegal shift". It was the correct call.

#2 At the high school level there are very specific rules about where coaches and players may be on their sidelines both in between plays and during plays. This is no different at the college level, however, these rules may be loosely applied depending on the crew and the level. In most cases, the players who are not substitutes and the coaches are to remain on the sidelines at all times. Between plays you will often see coaches and players creep out onto the field a bit so they may be seen and heard to relay plays into the offense. Most crews will let this slide, but when the ball is "about to become live" these players and coaches must retreat to their sidelines. At the worst, this could be some type of sideline warning or interference if they are encroaching on the field during the play.

Hope this helps.