starting on a yard line
 

Since hearing some NFL officials speak 2 years ago we have gone with the theory of always having 1st and 10 start on a yard line in a non-critical spot on the field (eg., after a change of possession, start on the 32 rather than 31.75). My first question, do other officials do this (just for the record, I think this is great on a well marked field)? Watching the NFL or major college, I see them do this all the time now.

My second question...if you do this, what is your procedure on measurements? It seems, at times, our referee says something like "they are short of the yard line, it's 3rd down," while other times he'll say "let's measure to be sure," and afterward he admits that he knew it was short, but he measured just for the sake of appearance. Just today I saw a Big 10 crew not measure when the spot was inches short of the 10 yard line (the line they knew was the LTG). I knew it was short based on the line, but someone who didn't realize that they use the yard line for reference may not known how they could tell it was short from across the field. Just wondering how other people in the same situations do this.

Yes, this is done in various (but not necessarily all) Canadian leagues that I do.

We do it all the time on COP. We will not measure if we are sure we started on a line, and will tell the coach why we are not. They rarely have a problem with it.

The thing about this mechanic is that no matter how you cut it, you are either taking away earned yardage or giving away unearned yardage.

No, you're not.

You maybe taking away earned inches or giving away earned inches but there's is no yardage involved.

Once the ball is snapped, inches in one direction or another is not going to matter a bit. Greater discrepanices are mistakenly made when spotting the ball and moving the ball from the side zones. Spotting the football is not an exact science. There are always going to be inches gained and inches lost.

This is a great mechanic on a well marked field between the 20s. Inside the 20s every blade of grass or carpet fiber counts.

Yup. We do it all the time. Not only on COP situations, but on first downs when we can get away with it, too, on well-marked fields.

why do you make it a point to start on a yard line? why don't you just spot it where the spot should be? I don't see the big deal here why you are moving it to a yard line.

We always start on a yard line. Make too much sense not to always know the exact yard to gain would be for a new series.

It's an unwritten rule with us that we start on a yard line. And, it's "inch-age, not yardage." Good point in that spots moved in from outside the hash tend to create more discrepancies than the initial spot of a series.

The better a field is marked, the fewer measurements we have.

Place the ball on the hash, place the box on the hash. Now, we know the ball has to go exactly 10 yards for a 1st. Place the ball between the hashes and the placement of the box is very likely to be off, which means the sticks will be off as well. You may well be asking the offense to gain 10 yards and a foot for a 1st down.

Also, if the line to gain is on a hash or your mark, it's much easier to know if you've made the line to gain. It also cuts down on measuring unnecesssarily.

This philosophy may have cost Auburn the game against LSU. The LJ marked a spot on the line when it was quite obvious he was down at least a foot or more short of the line. It was a third down play, which after measurement resulted in a first down. More importantly, the clock would have continued to run. LSU scored with 0:01 time remaining.

Fourth and inches VS first and 10 may change the play calling, the defense, the time outs remaining – any number of things. But we will never know. It didn’t make it easier on the HL, he still had to bring the chains from across the field to measure to the nose of the ball!

Was it philosophy or just a bad spot? What does an inch or two matter – “when we can get away with it”?

I am not talking about doing it in the middle of a series (i.e. a spot after 3rd down)--then every inch can be critical. I just mean spot it on a yard line for 1/10 between the 20's.

You clearly didn't read my post. COP or first downs. Never on second, third, or fourth down. There is no such philosophy then as ten yards is ten yards ONCE THE CHAINS ARE SET.

Golly...wonder is it possible that the HL simply disagrees with where you say the spot was?

As has been stated, no one has advocated doing this at anytime other than on 1st down between the 20's.