2023 Bulletin 1

[ElvisLives]

Wow. Now we gotta do the Iron Cross whenever any Team A players are OB after the down, on their side, between the 20s.

[TxBJ]

Is that a change?  I thought we were supposed to be doing that.

[ElvisLives]

Is that a change?  I thought we were supposed to be doing that.

So I hear. Not working FBS any more, I don’t keep up with the CCA manual, but I now see a 2022 change that dictates to do just that. Well, OK.

[JasonTX]

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the one with the helmet coming off team B or injury by team B and a foul by team A.  That's a rule change, not an interpretation.

[dammitbobby]

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the one with the helmet coming off team B or injury by team B and a foul by team A.  That's a rule change, not an interpretation.

For context, here the full scenario:

Play #3: 1/10 @ A-25. Early in the 4th quarter, back A21 takes a handoff and runs for a 15-yard gain and is down inbounds. During the play, A88 is guilty of holding at the A-30, and B54’s helmet comes off during the play (not a direct result of a foul).

RULING: The holding foul by A88 will be penalized 10-yards from the spot of the foul and it will be 1/15 @ A-20. The play clock will be set to 40, and both the play clock and game clock will be started on the Referee’s signal.

What am I missing, it looks like it is covered here?

3-4-3-c-13:  c.   25-Second Clock. If the officials signal the game clock to be stopped for any of the following reasons, the referee shall signal (one open palm in an over-the-head pumping motion) that the clock should be set at 25 seconds:
13.   An offensive team player’s helmet comes completely off through play. The play clock is set to 40 seconds if the helmet comes completely off a player of the defensive team. When play is to be resumed, the referee will give the ready-for-play signal [S1] and the play clock will begin its count.

[JDM]

Is that a change?  I thought we were supposed to be doing that.

It is not. Yes we are.

[JasonTX]

For context, here the full scenario:

Play #3: 1/10 @ A-25. Early in the 4th quarter, back A21 takes a handoff and runs for a 15-yard gain and is down inbounds. During the play, A88 is guilty of holding at the A-30, and B54’s helmet comes off during the play (not a direct result of a foul).

RULING: The holding foul by A88 will be penalized 10-yards from the spot of the foul and it will be 1/15 @ A-20. The play clock will be set to 40, and both the play clock and game clock will be started on the Referee’s signal.

What am I missing, it looks like it is covered here?

3-4-3-c-13:  c.   25-Second Clock. If the officials signal the game clock to be stopped for any of the following reasons, the referee shall signal (one open palm in an over-the-head pumping motion) that the clock should be set at 25 seconds:
13.   An offensive team player’s helmet comes completely off through play. The play clock is set to 40 seconds if the helmet comes completely off a player of the defensive team. When play is to be resumed, the referee will give the ready-for-play signal [S1] and the play clock will begin its count.

How do you get around 3-2-4-c-1:  25 second clock with Penalty Administration.  What if there was a team B helmet off and we also stopped the clock for a measurement? (3-2-4-c-5)

[Punter]

Don't complicate this one.  It is easy.  Anytime B's helmet comes off or if there is a B injury the play clock goes to 40.

[dammitbobby]

How do you get around 3-2-4-c-1:  25 second clock with Penalty Administration.  What if there was a team B helmet off and we also stopped the clock for a measurement? (3-2-4-c-5)

So I can see your point, one aspect say 25, another 40... with a conflict like that, I'd just default to 40.

[JasonTX]

Don't complicate this one.  It is easy.  Anytime B's helmet comes off or if there is a B injury the play clock goes to 40.

Complicating things is my hobby. 

4th and 10 at the 50.  Team A punts the ball where it is muffed by Team B beyond the LOS and then recovered by Team A at the B-20.  B30 lost his helmet during the play and B90 was offside at the snap.  Play clock and Game clock status?

[dammitbobby]

GC will always be snap after a kick. A will decline B's offside foul to keep the ball.

GC snap, PC 40 due to 3-4-3-c-13.

[JasonTX]

GC will always be snap after a kick. A will decline B's offside foul to keep the ball.

GC snap, PC 40 due to 3-4-3-c-13.

Which conflicts with 3-4-3-c-7.  I get the intent of the bulletin and will do it that way, but hopefully this makes its way into the rule book next year to clear up the conflict because for many years, no matter what happened on the play if there was a scrimmage kick, the PC would always be 25.

[peterparsons]

It also conflicts with 3-3-9-b which states "When the helmet coming off is the only reason for stopping the clock, other than due to an injury..." and 3-3-9-b-1 states what to do with the play clock.

There's a legal scrimmage kick and a flag down, both of which stop the clock, so the helmet off isn't the only reason other than an injury, so 3-3-9-b says don't apply everything else in 3-3-9-b, including what to do with the play clock.

The rules definitely contradict themselves in the matter of the play clock as currently written. The international (IFAF) rule set actually got changed last year to address this. In that rule set, we took the wording of 3-3-9-b to be the intent and purpose, so if the game clock is stopped for any other reason, for the purposes of setting the play clock, the helmet off and injury are ignored (we still deal with the player going out etc.), so in this play example, IFAF has a 25s play clock.

Given that the game clock is going on the snap, I personally see no value in potentially adding 15s of dead time by having a 40s play clock in a situation like this. It feels somewhat contradictory to all the other messaging we hear about speeding up the game.

[ElvisLives]

OK, even though I elected to retire on August 25, I am still officially a member of TASO and my chapter, and my mind has not gone blank regarding football rules, yet. So, here I go.

There are few "absolutes" in NCAA football, but there are a handful. One of them is the game clock will start on the SNAP following any legal kick down. Period. Regardless of what else may have happened. End of story. 3-3-2-d-8
Another one is that the play clock will always be set to 25, and start on the referee's signal after a kick down (other than a free kick). (And, for those of you working UIL (Texas) football, even after a free kick down.) Period. Regardless of what else happened. End of story. 3-2-4-c-7  (For UIL, see Exception No. 33.)

No foul, no helmet off, no injury - nothing - will change that. Kick down = Play clock at 25 and on the ready, and game clock on the snap.
OK, the first scrimmage down following a free kick down, in pure NCAA football, will be 40, and start automatically when the ball becomes dead following the free kick down (if not governed by a penalty completion, a charged team time out, an offensive injury, or replay review).

Do some of the rules conflict? It may seem so, but the reality is that there is a hierarchy of those things that set the play clock, and a legal kick down is at the top of that hierarchy. "Why?" you ask? In NCAA football, what kind of teams are typically on the field for a kick down? Oh, yeah. Special teams. So, when the down is over, both teams, typically, will be sending in wholly different offensive and defensive units. The rules committee decided LONG AGO - well before the 40-second play clock - that this situation justified a stoppage of the game to allow both teams to make their changes, before the ball is declared ready for play. Since the game clock is not going to start until the snap, 40 seconds is foolish (at least it was until TV reared its ugly head and threatened to take their money elsewhere unless the NCAA cowed to their demands in search of the magic 3-hour window).

So, following a punt - even if Team A retains the ball - the play clock will be 25 and start on the R's signal, and the game clock will start on the snap. Every time. No exceptions.