Is hand chop required?
 

During the kickoff procedure after the WH blows the whistle for 'ready for play' does the back judge (who's is on the kicking line) need to hand chop the last 5 seconds, or is that only required for scrimmage plays?

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

We do not show a visible warning that the play clock is about to expire on any play: kickoff or scrimmage play. Some officials will verbalize, "hurry up".

In Iowa, we have been specifically instructed by the state office to NOT have the B chop in for any plays.

Ohio ruling
 

We don't chop, we do however put our hand above our head to signal 5 or less seconds remaining. I will, but have not had to yet on a kickoff.

If your state requires you to give a visible signal for the 25 second clock and if you are allowed to call delay-of-game in the kicking team for kick-offs then you should count out the last 5 seconds of the play clock on a kick-off.

We call a lot of 8 man in Oklahoma, and they do not have the luxury of a play clock. Our back judge will chop the final 5 seconds so the offense is aware that time is about to expire.

MJT, I do not understand why Iowa will not let you chop for any play, does the offense not have the right to know how much time is left before they get hit with a d-o-g penalty?

In Nebraska, we count out the 5-seconds, just like in basketball, with the chopping movement. Back judge is required to do it in 5-man crew, while R and U (or just R) are supposed to do it in 4-man (and don't ask me why!).

In Iowa, NO signal whatsoever. The IHSAA feels that giving any kind of signal puts the offense at an advantage of knowing the 25-seconds is winding down, since the BJ is always behind the defense. It "disadvantages" the defense. I think it's stupid because if the defense knows the clock is winding down, then they can shift and show a different blitz or whatever that would force the QB to reaudible or call timeout or risk the DOG penalty.

Our BJ does not 'chop' for any plays. He just puts his hand up at the 5 second mark. I would doubt if the QB (obviously at the LOS) could even see his 'chopping' 20 yards deep.

I can see your point, and this was raised at the Nebraska rules meeting when this was brought up the first time. The NSAA said the chop is better than the raised hand, otherwise the QB would think there's a dead ball. :rolleyes:

That's what coaches are for. Why do we have to do their job?

We don't chop either. It's stupid.

No, that's what on field play clocks are for and they exist in NCAA and NFL football. If we don't have them, we tell everyone how much time's left on the play clock. Not doing so is stupid.

We were told that if there is not a 25 second clock available that the offense would have to keep track of it themselves. If they want to know, they keep it on a watch from the whistle. That is part of coaching we were told.

I still chop even though no one has told me either way what to do. This is not really a big deal either way. I do not see a right or wrong for this situation.

Peace

REPLY: We were told that we must chop the last 5 seconds. In fact, more and more, coaches are relying on us to serve as their 'surrogate' play clock when they're trying to run out the clock. Their QBs will look right at the BJ and snap when his chop gets to 23 or 24 seconds expired. Very effective.

The offense keeping on a watch from the whistle. Dangerous territory there, because if both teams have a coach standing on the sidelines with a watch and you flag a DOG at 24 seconds (even if you have 25 on your watch), you'll catch so much grief both teams might not have any coaches to finish the game because you'll be kicking them all out on USC's. This was what the NSAA was wanting to avoid by having the chopping on the last 5 seconds. It brings consistency because the BJ is doing it for both teams.