IG Mechanic

[zhntr]

5 man NFHS mechanics.

As R, any good tips on IG mechanics?

From a play tonite: A1 is under heavy pressure rolling to his right (towards B's bench). As R I am following the play and A1 finally throws the pass as he is about to got oob a good 15 yards behind the los. Since A1 was being hotly pursued and B was a pretty aggressive team, I kept watching A1 and his pursuers for any dead ball stuff.

When I finally looked downfield, I couldn't tell if there were any A players near the where the pass was thrown cause I had no idea of where the ball ended up being thrown. Looked to my LJ and all I see from him is an incomplete signal. Tried to get his attention and finally had to go downfield a good 7-8 yards to see if he had any A receivers in the area.

Of course, B's bench is screaming for the IG this whole time.

Finally confer w/ LJ and sure enough no A players in the area the pass was thrown. So I throw the flag a good 10-15 seconds after the end of the play and as I'm throwing it realize I am not going to have the spot where the pass was thrown. May a good guess at the spot of the illegal pass and enforced from there.

Any good tips on effectively handling this? Drop a bag where the pass was thrown? Throw the flag right away, then confer, and pick up the flag if no IG?

[AFSST]

I've encountered two schools of thought:

1. Some white hats don't like to wave off flags if a wing tosses for IG.  They would prefer to have the wing confer with the white hat and throw the flag late.
2. Other white hats don't mind waving off a flag.  They feel it "looks better" if a flag is waved off instead of having a late flag.

I think either approach is fine as long as the crew pregames the approach and then communicates after the pass is thrown.  The white hat should never be looking downfield after the pass is thrown.  He needs to protect the QB and ensure no buffoonery happens between players in the backfield.  So the wings, umpire and BJ will have to communicate with the R if they think IG occurred.  As a wing, if I think we may have IG, I peek in the backfield and see the QB's general location.  Obviously, I won't get it exactly right, but I'll be within a yard or two.  Some white hats will drop a bag if they anticipate IG.   

In last year's Super Bowl, Tom Brady was called for IG while in his EZ.  The BJ sprinted to the R and they had a conversation.  The R then threw his flag.  No problems with that...

[FBUmp]

5 man NFHS mechanics.

As R, any good tips on IG mechanics?

From a play tonite: A1 is under heavy pressure rolling to his right (towards B's bench). As R I am following the play and A1 finally throws the pass as he is about to got oob a good 15 yards behind the los. Since A1 was being hotly pursued and B was a pretty aggressive team, I kept watching A1 and his pursuers for any dead ball stuff.

When I finally looked downfield, I couldn't tell if there were any A players near the where the pass was thrown cause I had no idea of where the ball ended up being thrown. Looked to my LJ and all I see from him is an incomplete signal. Tried to get his attention and finally had to go downfield a good 7-8 yards to see if he had any A receivers in the area.

Of course, B's bench is screaming for the IG this whole time.

Finally confer w/ LJ and sure enough no A players in the area the pass was thrown. So I throw the flag a good 10-15 seconds after the end of the play and as I'm throwing it realize I am not going to have the spot where the pass was thrown. May a good guess at the spot of the illegal pass and enforced from there.

Any good tips on effectively handling this? Drop a bag where the pass was thrown? Throw the flag right away, then confer, and pick up the flag if no IG?

As an umpire, I come in yelling if I don't see a receiver in the area.

As the referee, you should mentally record where the QB was when he threw the ball if you think there's a possibility of IG.

[NorCalMike]

We always talk about this in the pregame. My R wants us to throw the flag if we believe the is IG. He says he would rather wave something off than throw a late flag. I have had other R's who tell us never to throw the flag.

As the U most of the time I will take a quick glance around the ball. If there are no receivers, I will let the R know and tell him to throw the flag.

[Atlanta Blue]

Various opinions, but that's all they are is opinions.  Personally, I would rather see a flag and have it waved off than see a flag 15 seconds later at what MIGHT be the spot.

I have also seen so R's drop a bean bag on the spot and then confer with the wing.  At least then, you have the spot.

[maven]

As the referee, you should mentally record where the QB was when he threw the ball if you think there's a possibility of IG.

I like this mechanic. I don't want wings flagging IG, but the call requires both pieces of info (passer under pressure, no eligible in the vicinity).

I don't think waving off a bad flag is much better or worse than a delayed flag. I generally prefer to be late and right, but it's six of one...

I don't like a bean bag here: I can memorize the spot of the foul and return to drop the flag on it.

So I also agree with AB that this issue is largely personal preference. IIRC, Ohio's Gold Book wants R to drop a flag after checking with the wing.