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Football Officiating => NCAA Discussion => Topic started by: TXMike on June 04, 2015, 06:04:58 PM
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Editorial change at 9-2-3-a
Was: While the ball is alive and during the immediate continuing action after the ball has been declared dead, any person other than a player or an official interferes in any way with the ball, player, or an official.
PENALTY: The Referee may take any action he considers equitable, which includes directing that the down be repeated, including assessing a 15-yard penalty, awarding a score, or suspending or forfeiting the game.
Now: That para has been removed. The language about interfering with an official was moved to the Game Admin Interference section as a new sub para and with a specific penalty (15 yds - succeeding spot). But the other language about interfering with a player or the ball does not seem to appear anywhere. I assume you could apply the "obviously unfair act" section of the rule to deal with it but seems strange they would have removed the "Tommy Lewis" rule. (Maybe coincidentally Lewis passed away last year)
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It may be that the rules editor thinks that it is enough to penalize non-players for being between the sideline and the coaching line, and I think it is hard to actually interfere from outside the coaching line. Still, an unusual direction for NCAA rules, usually they just get more complicated.