I'm fairly new to NCAA football, having mostly seen NFL games and games in the UK that I officiate. I've been surprised at the amount of 'bad' calls by officials in the bowl games this year....what is the general opinion of NCAA refereeing?

Also, there seem to be a lot of flags thrown after TD's for unsportsmanlike conduct, which seems excessive. Are the refs told to clamp down on such behaviour?

Officiating in games I've seen have been good, not great but certainly not bad. There have been some tough calls and most have been correct.

Excessive EZ celebrations have been a sore point for years and been flagged for just as long. Only in the NFL do they allow that crap.

What is the NCAA rule for defensive PI in the end zone? If it were 3rd & 6 on the 17 yard line (going in). If the foul
occurs in the EZ I know its an automatic first down but is the penalty half the distance? I saw the crew put the ball on the 2. Is this the rule or did they miss it?

I think I saw the same thing you did ump76. I don't have a NCAA rule book but the ref and the commentators explained that the pentalty is 15 yards regardless of the distance to the goal. i.e. the "half the distance" rule doesn't apply to that penalty.

(Though that does make me wonder what would have happened if the line of scrimmage was the 12 yard line instead of the 17. I'm sure one of you guys can tell us.)

-Sean---

REPLY: They got it right. The NCAA rule says that DPI is penalized:
(a) as a spot foul if the spot of the foul is less than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
(b)15 yds from the previous spot if the spot of the foul is 15 yards or more downfield
(c) at the 2 yardline if the ball is snapped between B's 17 and B's 2 and the spot of the foul is beyond B's 2

An easy way to get it right when the previous spot outside B's 2 is to go back to the previous spot and start walking toward B's goal line. Stop when you hit the spot of the foul, 15 yards beyond the previous spot, or B's 2 -- whichever comes first. Or...

If the previous spot was inside B's 2, then penalize half the distance to B's goal line.

No penalty enforced from outside B's 2 can put the ball inside the B's 2 except for DPI on a try which can penalized half the distance to B's goal line.

Since you are "fairly new to NCAA football," have you considered that the veteran officials, selected because of their skills, experience, and qualifications, are correct, and that you might be wrong?

Speaking of PI, orange bowl game, I guess OPI is not a loss of down in NCAA? Another interesting difference.

REPLY: That's correct, and I hear that some Federation states 'experimented' with this enforcement this past season. That usually means that it's being considered for a future rule change.

Re: In the EZ...
 

So your saying that if the pass is 50 yards and the PI occurs in the end zone then it would be a 48 yard penalty, correct?

No. It would be 15 yds from the previous spot. To review -


(a) as a spot foul if the spot of the foul is less than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
(b)15 yds from the previous spot if the spot of the foul is 15 yards or more downfield
(c) at the 2 yardline if the ball is snapped between B's 17 and B's 2 and the spot of the foul is beyond B's 2

As a whole, the major bowls have been well officiated. Some of the minor bowls have had me wincing from time to time. I thought Honig and his boys did a nice job last night in the Orange Bowl, as did the Pac-10 crew in the Georgia/Purdue game.

Re: Re: In the EZ...
 

I'm sure he would like to edit his post to clear that up.
See Bob M's post for the details.
Your play question would be 15 yards from previous spot, 1st down.

I want to point out that the Purdue/Georgia game had a great call on the fumble. I was impressed with the way they met, discussed the play, and came up with the correct call on a tough play.

Yes I'd be the first to admit that they make a lot of real tough calls, and make most of them well. What I'm trying to say is that there have been one or two really bad calls - fumbles at the goal line when the player was down, valid catches that have been ruled incomplete - that sort of thing. The commentators seem to be really down on the officials and I was wondering what the general opinion was on NCAA refs. The calls I speak about are proven to be incorrect by replay, so, no I'm not wrong. And I fully appreciate how hard it is to get it right all the time, and that the officials do not have the luxury of replay. I'm not saying the officials are bad, not in any way....I was just surprised at some calls in such important games.

On another note...there is no two-minute warning in NCAA?

The last thing you should do is listen to anything the commentators have to say about the rules or officiating. We have some real idiots broadcasting some of these games.

What specific calls are you talking about?

And no, there is not a 2 minute warning in the NCAA.

No 2 minute warning.

The game that made me wince the most was the Houston Bowl. Other than that, I've been pretty impressed.

The SEC sure has a unique way of doing things. I sure don't get why they put the R where he is. The wings looks like they're at a track meet to get a spot.