NCAA rules - I got into a disagreement this weekend with my fellow officials. I'm a 3rd year guy, and the other 3 were 13, 15, and 8 years - 13 is White Hat. Mind you - these are all 3 guys that I would call pretty good officials.

5-yard penalty on the 8-yard line. WH marked it to the 3. Luckily, the defense called a timeout and we had a good minute or so to ourselves. Strangely, I was the only one to insist that we put the ball on the 4. 15-yr looked at me like I was nuts.

I explained that the only penalty that can bring you closer than halfway to the goalline is Pass Interference or an offensive foul in the endzone (safety). They didn't buy it. Then I put my foot on the 5-yard, 1-inch line and said - "If we were here, where would you mark a 5-yarder to" - they all said half-the-distance. So I moved my foot to the 5 and a half and said, "What about here" - they all said Half-the-distance. I moved to the six, and at that point one said, "This is silly" and another rolled his eyes. I wasn't able to complete the exercise. Again - these are all good officials.

Luckily, I guess I have a reputation as kind of a bookworm on the rules, and 8-yr said something like, "If Mike says it's the 4, it's probably the 4... just put it there, we'll look it up later."

Here's my conundrum. I can't find the stupid thing in the book. I know it's there, but I'm obviously looking in the wrong places. I work with these guys again on Thursday, and would like to have it in print for them - I'm sure they'll ask.

REPLY: Look at 10-2-3: <i>"No distance penalty, including tries from on or inside the three-yard line, shall exceed half the distance from the enforcement spot to the offending team’s goal line [Exceptions: (1) Scrimmage downs, other than tries, under Rule 7-3-8 Penalty for Team B interference; and (2) on tries, defensive pass interference when the ball is snapped from outside the
three-yard line]."</i>

THANK you.

It is actually so simple. Except for exceptions, any foul that is 15 yards will be half the distance if from the 30 yard line and in. Any foul that is 10 yards will be half the distance if from the 20 yard line and in. Any foul that is 5 yards in distance will be half the distance if from the 10 yard line and in.

I know it's simple (which is why it surprised me so much that anyone argued), but I couldn't find it in print to show everyone.