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National Federation Discussion / Re: H and L mechanics on backwards pass ruling

« Last post by bossman72 on October 19, 2026, 11:41:13 AM »

So, I've never really worked the strict "L takes everything" mechanic.  On our crew we kind of hybrid it. 
We give forward/backward to the LOS official who's key is the back.  90% of the time, that's the LJ.  But if the LJ has trips, then the HL takes it.

If it's early in the play like within a second or two on a designed bubble screen, you just take it if it's coming at you.  No reason that you can't handle this even if you have keys.
When there is a forward/backward decision later in the play, the person who's key is the back will take it (usually LJ).

If I'm the LJ and my key is the back and the play is going away from me, I like to run into the offensive backfield to let my partner know that I'm working backward.  He can then make the call.  I do this instead of punching right away because I've had times where the LJ punches and the HL doesn't see him due to traffic and calls it incomplete, or he hesitates so long trying to find the LJ that he's making a ruling really late and it looks very indecisive.  I've been on both sides of this and feel this mechanic is my favorite way of handling this play.

To actually make the judgment, I go "point to point".  I mentally drop a pin where the ball is released and where the ball is touched.  I then connect the dots to see if it's forward or backward.  In general, you can usually figure out the yard line as 1 yard in front or behind the QB's feet depending on which side he's throwing to.

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NCAA Discussion / Re: Replay review at end of WMU at MU

« Last post by ump_ben on October 19, 2026, 11:39:38 AM »

And now we have the inverse?  BYU-ND Clock showed 1 second and replay didn't restore time. 

The play starts at 4 seconds and the play takes just over 4 seconds.  The interpretation reads "when there is clear and obvious video evidence that time SHOULD HAVE remained on the game clock when the ball became dead."  Emphasis mine.  So it seems the interpretation really clears nothing up because SHOULD HAVE could mean if the clock had been stopped at the instant it should have.  Or it could mean: if the clock had run correctly for the whole play.  Or it could mean: if the clock had run the way football clocks have always run before people got crazy with IR timing fixes.  The 2 second fix the NFL has seems to be a good way to account for all of this.

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NCAA Discussion / Re: Inadvertent Whistle

« Last post by Grant - AR on October 19, 2026, 09:02:17 AM »

Here is the video - https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/50206638/notre-dame-qb-cj-carr-fumbles-trying-spike-ball-byu-recovers

I think there is definitely a clear and immediate recovery.  If you watch, the player who recovered it was trying to get to the ball immediately after it hit the ground.  It took him a second to get there, but there wasn't any hesitation. 

34

National Federation Discussion / H and L mechanics on backwards pass ruling

« Last post by Steely Dan on October 19, 2026, 08:10:27 AM »

7 man - L makes the call on both sides of the field.  Two questions:

1. As the L - what do you look at specifically to determine backwards/forwards in real time?  Do you look at passer's feet then receiver's feet, or what is your method?

2. As the H - for a pass to your side, do you look across the field at the L to see if he's punching backwards while the play is live?  It's tough to do while you have blockers and receivers in your area and you don't want to miss anything.

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National Federation Discussion / Re: Heated Rivalry Including Threats of Violence (online)

« Last post by Ralph Damren on October 19, 2026, 07:06:47 AM »

Flashing back to my daze in Hartford,Connecticut in the late '60s,two of their inner-city schools had a vicious rivalry. When they played each other in basketball, they would play in an empty gym. Only the bus drivers and the officials would know the location of which gym in the area the game would be played at. 

IMHO, high school sports provide a great releaf from the anger in the world today  . To allow that to creep into our sports today is a sad event. 

36

NCAA Discussion / Re: Unusual Play

« Last post by Kalle on October 19, 2026, 02:05:57 AM »

OK, based on the video there is a possibility of a bat by a team B player, but then again, based on the explanation by the referee, the crew did not rule that there was a legal bat. So, the crew got this one wrong (and badly, awarding the ball to the wrong team).

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NCAA Discussion / Re: Unusual Play

« Last post by dcs07 on October 18, 2026, 07:57:44 PM »

Video: https://youtu.be/uV2osXO5a5Q

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NCAA Discussion / Re: Unusual Play

« Last post by sj on October 18, 2026, 03:10:29 PM »

Looking at the box score, it looks like this happened in the middle of the 1st quarter. When it comes to handling the clocks, would everyone agree with this?

Since this one happened before either of the two-minute timeouts....

Ideally, the entire crew, and the game clock operator, all recognize that what happened was a fumble (on fourth down) and no touchdown signal would be given. So the game clock would continue to run when the ball is dead.

The play clock would be set to 40 and start. And it would be set to 40 regardless of any confusion because it goes to 40 both because the play is dead or even if the play clock operator thinks it's a touchdown.

Thinking they've scored, Team A players will probably be celebrating some. Officials will be getting the ball to set it back to the B2. If the play clock is below 25 when the ball is spotted it would be pumped back to 25.

But if it's after the two-minute timeout in either half, the only difference would be that the game clock should be stopped when the ball is dead due to the Team A first down. And then restarted on the Referee's signal.

That's the ideal, but you probably have to deal with a celebration and getting it communicated to everybody on what will happen next. So it seems that lots of crew awareness would be needed on this one about the game clock and play clock. Especially, if it was late in a close game. And if there's a crew discussion needed, obviously the clock could be stopped for that.

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NCAA Discussion / Re: Unusual Play

« Last post by Kalle on October 18, 2026, 01:43:19 PM »

Unfortunately I don't really see any way to make the crew's TB ruling the right one, assuming basic facts that this was a fourth down, there was a team A fumble in the field of play, and team A recovered in the EZ. Only if the recovery was by team B would TB be a possibility here.

We all make mistakes.

40

NCAA Discussion / Re: Unusual Play

« Last post by Ted T on October 18, 2026, 01:22:23 PM »

There seems to be a lot of support from those in and around the game to get rid of the fumble into the end zone and OOB to something other than a touchback.  To turn this play into a touchback makes that rule seem totally reasonable.  Not every rules seems to dictate common sense, but I would think some sensible application might've helped here.