Defense Mimicing Snap Count

[Suudy]

NCAA. On Sat, there were accusations of UCLA mimicking the WSU snap count, causing several false starts. I've seen this at the HS level (Fed), and it is pretty obvious and we've penalized a USC on the player.

Two questions for the NCAA folk. Does U monitor for this? I get defensive play calls/coverage/etc, but one would think it would be obvious after the 5th or 6th time if it was an attempt to disrupt A's signals. Is this a foul in NCAA and if so, on whom and what call? USC?

[jTheUmp]

Yes, it's a foul in NCAA rules, but in NCAA it's only a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty. (7-1-5-a-3, if you're curious).

Also, according to a recent memo from Rogers, the defense clapping can be considered a foul under this rule (since a lot of offenses have gone to using a clap for as a snap count).

The umpire does monitor this, but I'd imagine that in some of the bigger/louder stadiums at the D1 level it's rather hard to hear. At the levels I work, I've yet to encounter that problem.

And I enforce it mechanically the same way for both FED and NCAA... if the disconcerting signals DON'T cause an offensive false start, it's nothing more than a stern talking-to on the first occurrence. If they disconcerting signals DO cause a false start, go straight to the Unsportsmanlike (FED) or delay-of-game (NCAA) foul.

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

Yes, it's a foul in NCAA rules, but in NCAA it's only a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty. (7-1-5-a-3, if you're curious).

I am! Thanks. This is just what I was looking for.

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

The umpire does monitor this, but I'd imagine that in some of the bigger/louder stadiums at the D1 level it's rather hard to hear. At the levels I work, I've yet to encounter that problem.

Well, this was a home game at WSU, and it wasn't loud when this happened. I wondered why WSU had so many false starts on the center (and one snap infraction). After a flag, there was a long crew discussion. The center was pleading his case, but they settled on a FS. In post-game discussion, there was some talk of the UCLA defense mimicking the snap sounds.

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

And I enforce it mechanically the same way for both FED and NCAA... if the disconcerting signals DON'T cause an offensive false start, it's nothing more than a stern talking-to on the first occurrence. If they disconcerting signals DO cause a false start, go straight to the Unsportsmanlike (FED) or delay-of-game (NCAA) foul.

Absolutely. I've only seen it once, and it immediately caused a FS. I was working wing and ran in to say FS, but our U immediately pointed out a B player that had called out the count. We went straight to a USC, and it never happened again.