USC-Arizona Game Clock at End of First Half

[zebrastripes]

I didn’t watch the game, but assuming Mothershed winds the game clock at a tempo consistent with other CFO Rs (not very long after a first down is made), it appears he did not change his tempo in the last minute of the first half – not even waiting for the ball to be ready for play at the rulebook states.

Of course, if NCAA would get rid of first down clock stoppages (since they are merely a formality at this point) there would have been no controversy on this play.

https://youtu.be/XnW23gov58A

[zebrastripes]

https://twitter.com/SNFRules/status/1586545726619803649?s=20&t=-7UM9u7kpDg_hcBLizfnaQ

[peterparsons]

The 2022 CCA manual states that, in this situation, R gives the signal to start the game clock "when the ball is placed on the field for the next snap". It doesn't help that the U moves the offense back (which takes a few seconds), but if R had followed the manual in the first place, I suspect we wouldn't have had anything to talk about.

[ElvisLives]

Although it should be, this isn’t a manual thing. This is a TV driven direction from ‘above’ to reduce total game time. And, officials are always under pressure to be ‘consistent,’ which resulted in the clock being started quickly when the U got the ball, as it had been all game - and all season - long.

It is a TV thing.

[zebrastripes]

As expected this play made Shaw’s training video this week.

[ElvisLives]

Everybody says they want us to be consistent, but then they tell us it is OK to ‘keep the game moving along’ early in the game by using procedures not specified in the rules, or in the approved manuals, but, when time is more critical, follow the rules explicitly. Somebody tell me how that is consistent.
I’m OK with treating things differently in time critical situations. Just put it in the rules.

[SCline]

^agreed

[ilyazhito]

I'm not a white hat, but if I were, I would wind when the ball is on the ground. That is the correct thing to do per the manual and by rule, because the start of the game clock is tied to the ball being ready for play. If I ever get questioned, I could say that "the rules tell me to start the game clock when the ball is ready for play" (3-3-2(e)(1)).

[ElvisLives]

I'm not a white hat, but if I were, I would wind when the ball is on the ground. That is the correct thing to do per the manual and by rule, because the start of the game clock is tied to the ball being ready for play. If I ever get questioned, I could say that "the rules tell me to start the game clock when the ball is ready for play" (3-3-2(e)(1)).

As with anyone, you’ll do as your superiors tell you to do. As Shaw states in the video, the issue of starting the clock was discussed in the National Referees Meeting, where the direction for NCAA officials was to (paraphrasing from the video): start the clock expediantly after a first down/out of bounds, when time isn’t critical, which is generally considered anything outside 2 minutes in the second or 4th periods. When the U has the ball and is moving to put the ball at the succeeding spot, wind ‘er up. Inside 2 minutes in the 2nd/4th periods, in a competitive game, slow down, and wait until the ball gets spotted.

Do what your boss(es) tell you to do.

[AlUpstateNY]

As with anyone, you’ll do as your superiors tell you to do. As Shaw states in the video, the issue of starting the clock was discussed in the National Referees Meeting, where the direction for NCAA officials was to (paraphrasing from the video): start the clock expediantly after a first down/out of bounds, when time isn’t critical, which is generally considered anything outside 2 minutes in the second or 4th periods. When the U has the ball and is moving to put the ball at the succeeding spot, wind ‘er up. Inside 2 minutes in the 2nd/4th periods, in a competitive game, slow down, and wait until the ball gets spotted.

Do what your boss(es) tell you to do.

Like EVERYTHING else in a football game, NO two first downs are EXACTLY alike.  Some happen after a 20+ yard pass/run are successful, others when a 2" run crosses a line. Some involve players from both teams unpeeling, others retrieving the ball from distances down field, different chain crews resetting, etc.  What was so-wrong about a consistent, designated source from assessing EACH situation declaring, both audibly and visually, that EVERYBODY understood that "all was properly established", including NONE of a million unusual problems, with players, officials scattered all over the field, confirming that  a new series of downs was "ready" to begin. 

The process seemed to work ,really effectively, for over 100 years at ALL levels of the game of football AVOIDING SILLY ARGUMENTS.  Seems like a perfect example of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", and TV can deal with their own "adjustments".

[ElvisLives]

Some folks just don’t understand the power of the essence behind TV contracts. TV pays the conferences a lot of money to broadcast their games. The conferences ain’t about to tell TV what to do and risk losing TV revenue (although the Power 5, in particular, probably could, to some degree, if they would just stop raiding each other and work together). That cat is out of the bag, and will never be re-captured.
Those that want to be a part of that system, including officials, just get used to following the rules passed down from “on high.”

[ilyazhito]

I would support that if they change the rules book to correspond to reality. It is frustrating to deal with one set of rules for tests and lower-level games, and then have to switch to TV "rules" specifically for TV games.