[PSU213]

Since hearing some NFL officials speak 2 years ago we have gone with the theory of always having 1st and 10 start on a yard line in a non-critical spot on the field (eg., after a change of possession, start on the 32 rather than 31.75). My first question, do other officials do this (just for the record, I think this is great on a well marked field)? Watching the NFL or major college, I see them do this all the time now.

My second question...if you do this, what is your procedure on measurements? It seems, at times, our referee says something like "they are short of the yard line, it's 3rd down," while other times he'll say "let's measure to be sure," and afterward he admits that he knew it was short, but he measured just for the sake of appearance. Just today I saw a Big 10 crew not measure when the spot was inches short of the 10 yard line (the line they knew was the LTG). I knew it was short based on the line, but someone who didn't realize that they use the yard line for reference may not known how they could tell it was short from across the field. Just wondering how other people in the same situations do this.