Elite Football Officials Clinic
The Plays of the Week are contributed by the clinic coordinators throughout the year. These are intended to be interactive so please feel free to send answers or other interesting plays to info@elitefootballofficialsclinic.com
November 10, 2011
Here is an example of 1) launching making contact with the helmet and 2) Correct Ruling of an incomplete pass. Receiver did not complete the process of making a catch. Correct Call for the UNR and Correct Judgment on the Incomplete Pass. Good Job of officiating by the BJ, SJ and LJ
Watch the video
October 31, 2011
There was a very difficult catch/no catch call at the end of the ECU vs. Navy game two weeks ago. The officials on the field got the call right! Since then, my supervisor, Gerald Austin, published the following guidelines for ruling on a catch.
1) For a forward pass to be ruled complete the following must occur:
a) The player must have control of the ball
b) At the end of the play, he must have possession of the ball (SHOW ME THE BALL)
c) He must make a football act or move with the ball in his possession
d) If he is going to the ground in bounds, out of bounds or in the end zone, regardless of the number of steps he takes, he must keep possession of the ball for it to be a catch.
2) For a pass to be ruled incomplete:
a) There must be visual evidence it is incomplete
b) If there is a bobble after he crosses the boundary line, then it is incomplete
ANY DOUBT MAKE IT INCOMPLETE VS. MAKING IT A CHEAP FUMBLE
3) The runner is down when:
a) To rule a runner down the official must see the runner on the ground and visually see the runner in possession of the ball.
I hope this helps.
October 24, 2011
Catch or No Catch?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO5O97Gj0L8
NFL would tell you he was contacted while going to the ground, this means he MUST complete the process, if he was not contacted and going to ground on his own then the reaching out is a second act and would constitute a touchdown once ball breaks the plane of goal line, doesn’t matter after that what happens to the ball. This play he is contacted so he must complete the process.
October 17, 2011
Question: Is the QB afforded the same protection when he scrambles outside of the box as he gets when he is in the box?
Play: QB A14 is flushed from the pocket and is running toward the LOS. When he is still 4 yards behind the LOS, he throws a pass to A89 which is incomplete. On the play. LB B32 seeing the QB flushed, rushes toward him and after the ball is thrown knocks the QB down with a very hard hit to the chest area (not the head). B32's contact was made after he (B32) had taken two steps after A14 had thrown the ball.
For discussion: Is this RPS? Is this an UNR? Is this a good football hit by the defense?
October 10, 2011
1st and 10 on the A-20 yard line. :09 left in the first half. QB A18 throws a long pass downfield that is caught by a diving A84 at the B-20 yardline. As he hits the ground there is :02 left on the clock, but by the time the FJ/SJ give the deadball/kill the clock signal there is :00 on the clock.
a) When does the clock stop by rule: When the player is down or when the official signals deadball/timeout?
b) Can we put time back on the clock if Team A has a Timeout remaining and the coach was asking for it when the player hit the ground or has told the wing official ahead of time he wants a T.O. after the play?
c) Can we put time back on the clock if Team A does not have a timeout remaining?
October 6, 2011:
Targeting Ejection: Take a look at this play. Is this foul? Did the defender take more than what’s equivalent to one step? Is there contact above the shoulders? View on Youtube.
Thanks to Adrian Carson for the play.