Stop the clock?

[GPC2]

In my game last Saturday night we had the following play:

Late in the second quarter (maybe 20 seconds left), A on B's 25 yard line. A has no time outs remaining. QB A8 is sacked on B's 31 yard line and the ball appears to come loose. The R eventually ruled that the QB was downed. A's coach immediately begins yelling "KICKING TEAM!!"

By this time there are under 10 seconds left in the half, R hurriedly gets the ball spotted and blows the ready. Due to the semi-confusion about the possible fumble, I (HL) was not in position on the line, and neither the BJ nor the LJ were in position under the goal posts. Somehow, A gets their kicking team on the field, in position, set and snapped in about five seconds to kick the field goal attempt. The ball sailed wide right, so we luckily averted an ugly situation.

In my opinion, the R should have waited until all officials were in position prior to blowing the ready, and consequently A would probably never have gotten the kick off as time would have expired for the half.

In our weekly meetings there was a huge discussion, and many of the veterans had different takes on it. While all agreed that the covering officials must be in place, a few of them said that the game clock should be stopped to allow the officials to get in proper position - I COMPLETELY disagree with that, and I think its just too bad if A doesn't have time.

Opinions?

[JasonTX]

How fast did he mark the ball ready in all the plays in the game prior to that. The same pace should be kept from start to finish. "Hurry Up" is something the teams do, not the officials. If it takes you 7 secs. to mark the ball ready for play on the first play in the first quarter, then it should take 7 secs. on the last play of the last quarter. My routine is the same. Once the ball is set, I look at each official and verify the down, then I mark it ready. If the R is rushing, he is assisting the offense in helping them get another play. We aren't there to help them get another play.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by JasonTX

How fast did he mark the ball ready in all the plays in the game prior to that. The same pace should be kept from start to finish. "Hurry Up" is something the teams do, not the officials. If it takes you 7 secs. to mark the ball ready for play on the first play in the first quarter, then it should take 7 secs. on the last play of the last quarter. My routine is the same. Once the ball is set, I look at each official and verify the down, then I mark it ready. If the R is rushing, he is assisting the offense in helping them get another play. We aren't there to help them get another play.

I agree with Jason, but to answer your other question ... no, R should not take EXTRA time solely to get an official under the uprights. It's our responsibility to get ready to officiate, even in bizarre circumstances like this. R should not hurry, but he should not delay either.

[FootballRef05]

The umpire should be over the ball and the R should make sure the other officials are in position to officiate, this shouldn't take extra time but the R must allow time for his crew to get where they need to be. If the clock run out too bad, they should have saved a time out. There is no way I am going to make a ball RFP if the guys are not uner the goal to make the call.

[GPC2]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

R should not hurry, but he should not delay either.

mbcrowder,

If R would have used his normal cadence on that play (which he didn't - he went pretty fast), the covering officials would NOT have been in proper position. The overall question is, what to do? Allow the play to go off w/o proper coverage? ...or wait for proper coverage and possibly run out of time? ...or stop time in order to get proper coverage?

By the way, I know R is supposed to keep a steady cadence, BUT the RFP will most probably be blown a lot quicker following a 1 yard run on second down than following a 30-yard incomplete pass (with a scrimmage kick to follow) on third down. It will quite naturally take the covering officials a bit longer to get in position for the latter scenario.

[JasonTX]

If any official sees that they are rushing to get a kicking tee in or hear the coach calling for a field goal unit, then the officials should begin communicating and the covering officials should be moving into position. We always shout out, "we gotta tee, we gotta tee" along with using the "T" hand signal to the officials. Once they are in position, then the R can make it ready. If time runs out during the process then that's too bad. Not sure on the Fed rule, but the NCAA has a rule that allows the officials to stop the clock if there is undue delay by officials in placing the ball for the next snap. I don't believe this would apply here. This rule would apply when perhaps the ball goes out of bounds and the ball boy isn't around to get a new ball. At that time we'd stop the clock. Under NCAA it is also specific that the ball shall be declared ready for play consistently throughout the game. I'd be interested to know if the Fed has a rule like that.

[RoyGardner]

"While all agreed that the covering officials must be in place, a few of them said that the game clock should be stopped to allow the officials to get in proper position..."

If you are following your normal timing between downs (which as JasonTX notes we should always be doing), and the ONLY reason you are not ready after both teams are in position to run play, is that officials are not in place, IMO we stop clock, get in position, and then give RFP w/wind.

Also, if we are in a situation (which I believe is described here) where for some number of seconds we are attempting to decide who actually has possession, then IMO the clock should be stopped until that decision is made. But, as stated previously, the key should be consistent timing on the RFP after each play throughout the game.

[JasonTX]

When the previous play was over, there were 10 seconds on a running clock left and team A was sending subs in and rushing to the line, right? Under NCAA there won't be enough time for A to snap the ball. By rule, Team B must be given enough time place its own subs into the game. By the time that is done and I have gone through my routine of making eye contact with each official, the time would have expired. While Team B is given the time they need to put in their subs, the BJ and LJ could be racing to the posts. Next time Team A will just spike the ball.

[FootballRef05]

Under NCAA the U is required to stand over the ball until he is certain that B has had a resonable about of time to see the changes by A and react, nothing about stopping the clock, chances are in NCAA the play would never have gotten off.

[RonRef]

Originally Posted by FootballRef05

Under NCAA the U is required to stand over the ball until he is certain that B has had a resonable about of time to see the changes by A and react, nothing about stopping the clock, chances are in NCAA the play would never have gotten off.

I would challenge any high school team to rush their field goal unit on the field line up and kick the ball with only 10 seconds left without a motion penalty on the play or get the kick off without time expiring.

[FootballRef05]

Originally Posted by RonRef

I would challenge any high school team to rush their field goal unit on the field line up and kick the ball with only 10 seconds left without a motion penalty on the play or get the kick off without time expiring.

Great Point Ron

[RoyGardner]

I don't think the question is if it could be done. According to the posted play it was done and without any procedural flags. The question asked was should the clock have been stopped since the only ones not ready were the officials. If both teams can sub and be in position for an attempted field goal, which they actually did according to the posted play, then we should be blowing the whistle and getting in position to correctly officiate the play and get the call right.

Were not giving anyone extra time, were making them wait for us to get into position, both teams are already in position and ready to snap.