R in Waco Saturday

[blindref757]

I went to the Baylor-OK St. game yesterday with my H.  We got there about an hour early just as the R and U were coming out onto the field.  The R had 1" stripes with an R on the back of his shirt.  He stayed out on the field for the entire pregame--and the crew went in together after both teams had left the field.  When he came out for kickoff, he had a regular 2" R shirt.

Does anyone have any idea of how or why?

One other observance in the pregame.  The B, U, S, and F went to their respective groups and practiced their position with both teams during the warm up.  The U went to work with O Linemen, and the deep guys went and backpedaled with receivers in their drills.  I had never seen that and wondered if it was a crew thing, or if it was standard in the Big 12?

Overall the crew did a good job.  There was one questionable call...a helmet-to-helmet hit that was called by the B (from long distance) that was waived off.  I thought it was a good call.  Don't have any video.  Mike?

[cougar729]

I would say most Big 12 crews and probably several others do what you saw yesterday.  The U gets a chance to look for alignments of blockers, how the center is snapping the ball, etc.  The R talks to the QB and gets an idea of his movement and throwing motion.  H and L will look at formations and talk to WR's about LOS issues.  B,S,F will get an idea of pass patterns and coverage by defensive backs.  Its all an attempt to get information prior to kickoff.  Its easier to officiate if you've seen it during pre-game than for the first time once the game has started.

Can't say for sure about the 1 inch stripes... don't know of any situation that you would do that.

[JasonTX]

We do that as well.  It's just another way of getting prepared for the game.  Nothing beats some practice reps before the actual game starts.

[El Macman]

One other observance in the pregame.  The B, U, S, and F went to their respective groups and practiced their position with both teams during the warm up.  The U went to work with O Linemen, and the deep guys went and backpedaled with receivers in their drills.  I had never seen that and wondered if it was a crew thing, or if it was standard in the Big 12?

That's been standard practice in at least 5 FBS onferences since at least 2007 - some much longer. Probably should become universal. We've seen numerous times when some sort of interaction wants to occur between teams that takes more than two striped shirts to keep from getting out of hand. Keeping teams separated is very difficult with just two guys. So guys stay busy taking snaps, while keeping their heads on a swivel, intercepting potential conflicts.

[maven]

Can't say for sure about the 1 inch stripes... don't know of any situation that you would do that.

Didn't want any pre-game BBQ on his real shirt.