Pinstripe salute prompts official review
By Austin Meek
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
KANSAS CITY — Adrian Hilburn's Pinstripe Bowl salute, a play burned in the memories of Kansas State fans, has become a case study for interpreting college football's celebration rules.
The play, a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed after the K-State receiver saluted the stands to celebrate a late touchdown, was projected to a packed ballroom Saturday at the Big 12 officiating clinic. K-State was forced to attempt a game-tying conversion from the 18-yard line, allowing Syracuse to escape with a 36-34 win.
The public backlash was swift and decisive, which encouraged the NCAA Football Rules Committee to revisit its interpretation of excessive celebration.
“That was the straw that broke the camel's back,” said Walt Anderson, the Big 12's coordinator of officials. “The rules committee realized the pendulum had swung too far to the left and accepted the blame for forcing us to call some of those things.”
Officials now are instructed to refrain from flagging spontaneous celebrations, reserving the penalties for premeditated or prolonged displays.
That directive goes hand-in-hand with a rule change, effective this season, that will take points off the board for celebration penalties that occur outside of the end zone. A receiver who turns around to taunt a defender at the 5-yard line, for instance, would be penalized from the spot of the foul, while celebration penalties that occur in the end zone will continue to be assessed on the extra point or kickoff.
In other words, officials hope to see fewer celebration penalties but stronger consequences when blatant infractions occur.
“The penalties are a little more severe, but we're asking them to back up some on how they're making those calls," said Ken Rivera, coordinator of officials for the Mountain West.
College football seemed to be cracking down on celebrations in recent years, a precedent established when Washington quarterback Jake Locker was flagged for flipping the ball over his shoulder in a 2008 game against BYU.
The call was controversial, even among officiating coordinators, but the NCAA's coordinator of officials supported the penalty. As a result, Rivera said, officials broadened their definitions of excessive celebration and penalties became more frequent.
“We had guys who started looking for things instead of letting it happen,” he said.
The trend culminated with a Big Ten crew flagging Hilburn's impromptu salute in the Pinstripe Bowl. Anderson's cell phone started buzzing seconds after the call was made, and the penalty dominated the next day's headlines.
That's the kind of attention officials hope to avoid, which prompted a re-examination of how the celebration rule is enforced.
“The pendulum now is swinging back to unless it's overt and everyone knows its unsportsmanlike, just leave it alone,” Rivera said. “Don't interject yourself in the game, especially late in the game.”
Rules for roughing
A subtle rule change could have a literal impact for punters and kickers.
Previously, there was no penalty if a rusher was illegally blocked into a punter or kicker. That interpretation has been expanded to include legal blocks, with blocks broadly defined to include all but the most insignificant contact.
That means rushers who engage a blocker can hit the kicker without fear of penalty, which could make teams more aggressive in trying to block punts and kicks.
“As a special teams coach, I'm sending the house,” Anderson said.
Replay here to stay
Booth reviews are an occasional source of agitation for viewers, but don't expect the role of replay to diminish.
“I'm a fan of instant replay,” Anderson said. “I love instant replay.”
Anderson is happy with the number of booth replays taking place – roughly 2.25 per game, on average – but would like to see shorter replay stoppages.
Fans might groan when an obvious touchdown gets reviewed, but having replay is far better than the alternative, Anderson said.
“In all honesty, it has helped us avoid injecting officiating into the game in ways that would be unfortunate,” he said. “We've eliminated a lot of mistakes that we don't even talk about now that if we didn't have replay would be a lot of your Monday morning headlines.”
Runoff rule in effect
Starting this season, college football will adopt a 10-second runoff for certain penalties that occur in the final minute of each half.
The impetus was the controversial conclusion of last year's Music City Bowl, in which North Carolina committed a substitution penalty in the closing seconds. The penalty stopped the clock, allowing North Carolina to kick a game-tying field goal with 1 second remaining.
Under the new rule, a penalty that stops the clock in the final minute could trigger the 10-second runoff. The opposing team has the option to decline the runoff, and the team that committed the penalty can elect to use a timeout instead of taking the runoff.
