Conference USA Mechanics

[jack015]

I presume that you are refering to the "dead ball" signal. Gerald Austin (NFL Referee #34) is the CUSA FB official's supervisor. That is an NFL mechanic to indicate that the ball is dead inbounds and to start the 40 second play clock in the NFL, even though it is not necessary in NCAA or NF play. If you watch the CUSA officials, they use other NFL mechanics such as using their hat to indicate that a receiver has gone out of bounds on his own.