Illegal Substitution vs Participation

[Bob M.]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Sometimes that's muddy... but in this particular situation, the defense never huddled (the whole game). A player came on to replace the CB on the opposite side, yelling the current CB's name, who then ran across the field toward his own sideline - and was at or near the numbers when the ball was snapped. He was never involved in the play.

REPLY: Based on this description, he met the requirement of "leaving immediately" so all he needs to do is get his butt off the field before the snap. If he doesn't, he's violated, as you correctly point out, 3-5-2b which clearly defines this as a live ball substitution infraction. There's no way in my opinion that this could ever be blown as a dead ball foul: If he makes it off the field, there's no foul and everyone's happy; if he doesn't, the snap has intervened and created the foul. While there are some fouls in NCAA that cause the ball to become dead, this ain't one of them!