We had our first game of the season Friday and it went well... for the most part. As one would expect early in a season, there were multiple fouls for false starts, holding, common illegal blocks.
It's been stressed here before, but I wanted to add to the importance of communication between the crew. My white hat had a hold about 4 yards directly behind the point of attack on a draw. As umpire, I was focused on the action directly in front of me and did not see the foul. We USUALLY communicate well, but we had a breakdown that could have cost us. When the penalty was accepted I told R, "I am going back 10 from the flag." He responded with, "No, it's 10 from the previous spot." We had a simultaneous brain fart... I then asked, "The foul is at the LOS?" to which he said, "Yes" (which conflicted with what he told me when the play came to an end). Without further discussion, I marched 10 yards off from the previous spot.
I knew what I was asking, he interpreted it as something else. We trusted each others' judgement too much, which led to improper administration in the interest of moving the game along. It wasn't until a coach yelled, "That's a spot foul, sir!" that we both snapped out of our trances. Fortunately, our wing on that side held the spot of the foul until we came to our senses. At halftime, R told me it was his fault... that he'd had a rough day at work and had not had the time to mentally prepare for the contest. I should have been more diligent to ask him where the infraction happened, and to state that it is a spot foul. I'd like to blame my lapse on me thinking about a
but I don't care for candy (if it was a bag of spicy pork rinds... well)!