Enforcement

[PurdueKenny]

Hey Everyone,

I'm a fairly new official and was wanting some clarification on enforcement of penalties. I know what to look for and how many yards they all are; however, if someone were to ask me about which spot to use for enforcement I wouldn't have a confident answer.

Can someone explain typical enforcement? Let's skip something like PSK for now.

My example question is this: If holding were called where the yellow marker was, which would be the enforcement spot if blue was the line of scrimmage and red was the end of the run?

[maven]

Hi Kenny, and welcome to the forum!

You need to understand 2 important principles: basic spot, and all-but-one.

The basic spot is the default enforcement spot. It varies depending on the kind of play: for fouls that occur during a running play, the basic spot is the end of the run. For those that occur during a loose ball play, the basic spot is the previous spot. (You will also need to study 'running play' and 'loose ball play', but I'll set that aside for simplicity.)

So in your example play, assuming that it was a running play, your basic spot would be the end of the run. However, enforcement is governed by "all but one," or ABO. To understand ABO, you have to grasp 4 types of foul: committed by the offense or defense, and beyond or behind the basic spot (from the standpoint of the offense). That's 4: defense beyond, defense behind, offense beyond, and offense behind.

These are ALL enforced from the basic spot BUT ONE: fouls by the offense committed behind the basic spot. Those are enforced from the spot of the foul.

So, in your example, the foul is by the offense behind the basic spot, so it's a spot foul.

That's your 30 second enforcement clinic!

[PurdueKenny]

Thirty seconds cleared up what the Football Rules by Topic book took twenty pages to say. I read up on Loose ball versus running play. It seems to me that every play is a loose-ball play except a play where the QB hands the ball directly to the runner. If he were to pitch it to the runner (it'd be a backwards pass) and therefore a loose-ball, correct?

The Running play section of the book doesn't help clarify because it says, "Any play that is not a loose ball play is a running play..."

Once I get the two types of plays completely understood I think that I understand enforcement, at least confidently enough to state my opinion. Thanks for your time maven.

[maven]

Thirty seconds cleared up what the Football Rules by Topic book took twenty pages to say. I read up on Loose ball versus running play. It seems to me that every play is a loose-ball play except a play where the QB hands the ball directly to the runner. If he were to pitch it to the runner (it'd be a backwards pass) and therefore a loose-ball, correct?

The Running play section of the book doesn't help clarify because it says, "Any play that is not a loose ball play is a running play..."

Once I get the two types of plays completely understood I think that I understand enforcement, at least confidently enough to state my opinion. Thanks for your time maven.

Everything here seems correct, but the point that tripped me up initially is that a down may include more than one play: for example, the usual pass play includes a loose ball play (all action up to the catch) AND a running play (action between the catch and the runner being downed). Indeed, a down may contain any number of running plays, but at most one loose ball play.

And, don't forget that mastery of enforcements includes all the stuff we skipped in the 30-second version: PSK, special enforcements, safety/touchback provisions, and so forth.

[PurdueKenny]

Baby steps. Thanks Maven.

[maybrefguy]

My mentor explained running vs loose to me this way.  Everything that happens before a loose ball is assessed as a loose ball play, everthing that happens after is assessed as a running play.

[bbeagle]

I have always thought of it this way:

For spot fouls by the offense:
What is the WORST spot for the offense to be penalized? Penalize at that spot. It's either the end of the run, spot of the foul (the flag), or the bean bag spot (spot of the end of the particular run if the ball is fumbled). The spot which is most towards their own goal line.

End of Run: A15 Flag: A11 - Penalize at A11
End of Run: A15 Flag: A20 - Penalize at A15
End of Run (Play): A40 Flag: A20 - Bean Bag at A18 for start of fumble (end of the run with the flag). Penalize at A18.
 
That's only for SPOT fouls. There are also fouls at the snap, and fouls penalized at the end of the run (regardless of where occurred - like unsportsmanlike).

[bama_stripes]

Kenny, you now know why we White Hats get the big money!       

[Jackhammer]

....So, in your example, the foul is by the offense behind the basic spot, so it's a spot foul.....

All true assuming the direction of A was from right to left as shown in the diagram.   If the direction of A were from left to right you'd penalize from end of run (basic spot), because the foul by A was in front of the basic spot. 

bbeagle,
I hear the "worst spot" philosophy alot.  It can get you in trouble.  it's better to learn the terminology and process the spots accordingly.

[Bob M.]

...bbeagle,
I hear the "worst spot" philosophy alot.  It can get you in trouble.  it's better to learn the terminology and process the spots accordingly.

REPLY: Agree 100%. You absolutely nailed it. I am not big on these kinds of aphorisms (including "the ground can't cause a fumble"). Mostly they are oversimplifications of more complex dynamics. They become convenient surrogates for actually learning the rules. I'm sure that bbeagle understands enforcement fully. But telling things like this to a newbie can lead him into all sorts of trouble. For example, he might try to apply it to a foul by the defense that's in advance of the end of the run.

I've attached a "Penalty Enforcement for NFHS" document that I first wrote in around 1999. I've kept it up to date every year since. It attempts to reorganize the enforcement rules into something more readable. I'd be interested to hear your opinions.

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