A-11 Offense ??

[TXMike]

I can't believe I am doing this.......


The NCAA answer HAS been given already. Did you read the responses? Are you a coach, an official, or something else? (And if you are from Texas, you likely know that HS football in Texas is played under NCAA rules, hence this "offense" is illegal in Texas HS football except on 4th down, and sometimes not even on 4th down)

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by jtex

thanks for clarifying for me.

It says a player #50-79 is ineligible to catch a "forward pass" no matter where he aligns, but if I read the rule properly, he can catch a flair pass if the aligns in the backfield; A flair pass is thown behind the LOS. A ball that does not cross the neutral zone is not a forward pass.

A ball that does not cross the neutral zone is not a forward pass? HUH? A pass is either forward or backwards and neither of those has anything to do with where the neutral zone is. Check this out:

Rule 2-19-2
Forward and Backward Pass
ARTICLE 2. a. A forward pass is determined by the point where the ball
first strikes the ground, a player, an official or anything beyond the spot
of the pass. All other passes are backward passes. When in question, it is
a forward pass rather than a backward pass when thrown in or behind the
neutral zone.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by jtex

The current HS rules allows this. You must enforce the current rules whether you like them or not and let the rule committee determine the rules. Make your concerns known to the rules committee. If you do not agree with the approve rules, then officiate another sport.

I agree. In fact my association had a game last season with the team that runs the A-11 offense. The officials on that game allowed the offense to be run because it is legal in NFHS rules. I don't believe it is within the spirit of the game but that is an esoteric discussion that has been rehashed time and again here.

My questions are can this formation be used at the NCAA level. If you want to engage me in an intelligent dialogue, then I will gladly do it. But instead, you insult and attack other people integrity. Glad you will stay a saturday morning recreation pee-wee flag official, feel bad for the 6 yr old kids though.

I'm not sure where the personal insults are coming from as I have never questioned your integrity. I simply commented on your outlandish statement that any official that doesn't post under his real name must not be a "real official". In fact I would say that you are questioning the integrity of several people on this forum.

Your question has been answered numerous times throughout this thread. The A-11 is almost NEVER legal under NCAA rules.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by jtex

A ball that does not cross the neutral zone is not a forward pass.

Only in 6 man!

[Forksref]

Originally Posted by Bob M.

REPLY: I feel the same way. I should be flogged.

Flogged or flagged!

[jtex]

Thanks for straighting me out on the forward pass. I thought a ball passed beyond the neutral zone was a forward pass because the NCAA rules on Pass Interference.

The interference rule says a legal forward pass beyond the neutral zone. I just assumed it was not considered a forward pass until it crossed the neutral zone.

Does this mean the defender can bump, hit, knock down a receiver until a forward pass crosses the neutral zone?

The article in AFM got me thinking about football rules and the differences between the different levels of football.

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by jtex

Does this mean the defender can bump, hit, knock down a receiver until a forward pass crosses the neutral zone?

He is allowed to legally block the receiver until that receiver occupies the same yardline as the defender. In the NFL he is allowed a 5 yard "chuck" zone but NCAA there is no such rule.

[JPC75]

It's great to see that refs go into a frenzy about this.

One of my favorite QB's, Doug Flute would research and try things that tested the envelope of the rules. One of his unsuccessful attempts was an old rule regarding downfield kicking in Candian Football i.e. running over the LOS and drop kicking the ball toward the goal post in free play for 3 points, which was legal and harkens back to the days when there weren't 15 refs on the field, using a rule book the size of the Bible.
He wanted to attempt this to try and win a game with 2 seconds left being down by 2 points with no time outs.

Doug Flute is also the man who drop kicked a PAT during the Patriot's game against Dolphins:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2277308

I played football for 10 years, backyard and organized through college. I have lost just about all interest in football, especially the NFL. The NFL is a boring beer commercial and is as predictable as a jack in the box. Everyone agrees that it is the rare or trick plays that make the game intresting i.e. onside kicks, fake punts, etc..
I can just about stand NCAA football, but would rather go to one of my nephew's high school games.

I truely believe if it was left up to the refs, they would amend the rules to have equal number of refs per on-field players and would ride the backs of the players like jockeys.

The refs crossed the line when they started to believe that their job wasn't background to the game and the players, but was as important, if not more important than the game itself. A refs job is to officiate the game, not control it.

The bottom line is, whether you admit it or not, over officiating football ruins the game. Commercials don't help either.

Hats off to you Coach Bryant, have fun, win and make money and pay no attention to the begrudging refs who want to ruin the game.

------

A distant cousin to football is a good game called Rugby which has not been too corrupted by the refs. The rule book, called the laws of the game, has 12rules. There is one referee per 30 players and he has the assistance of two sideline judges. Other than that, there is a time keeper and a score keeper. But before you start knocking this sport, please watch a game between to good teams and then comment.

Watch, learn and understand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5FzQRyRqew -
too bad for our boys but the game is growing and we are getting better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNaUuwqbH68

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5tHgET4N4


Jimmy

[JugglingReferee]

You SOOOOOOOOOOOOO need to referee football in Canada!

You would have tonnes of fun, as we haven't all the limitation in US-based rules.

PS: His name is Doug Flutie.

[JPC75]

right.....Doug Flutie....opps....what a great player....

I am actually a Rubgy ref. Reffing a Rugby match is pretty difficult but the ref does have the last word and everyone on the field respects that or they get sent off.

I would love to ref a Canadian football game, but we don't get much coverage here in the States. I have seen some games though and the wider field and 3 downs make the game intresting. I like the 1 point for punting out of the endzone too.

Anyway, I do love football, but hate the over officiated, heavly structured NFL game.

[JugglingReferee]

I've heard some people come up with their own version for what NFL is an acronym. LOL

I too think that the NFL is heavily structured, and tremendously enjoy the CFL game. I still watch the NFL, though. But only after CFL games.

[Texas Aggie]

I truely believe if it was left up to the refs, they would amend the rules

Coaches, not officials, are the ones that make up the rules committee. Whatever changes that have been made have been the result of what coaches want.

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by JPC75

I am actually a Rubgy ref.

Hey, Rubgy Ref...Rugby player here. Trust me, you're missing 90% of the game.

[JPC75]

Quote: Coaches, not officials, are the ones that make up the rules committee. Whatever changes that have been made have been the result of what coaches want.

Texas Aggie: I didn't say who created the rules, but my point is that if it was left up to the refs, they would surely vote to have more refs on the field which would allow for more ref control, more penalties and more stoppages.

Jimmy

[JPC75]

Quote: Hey, Rubgy Ref...Rugby player here. Trust me, you're missing 90% of the game.

Rugby Player: What 90% of the game, which I probably didn't mention, am I missing? Are you referring to my mentioning of Rugby's 12 Laws of the Game?

Let me clarify something; I am not proposing that Rugby is better than Football; all I am saying is that if one can not agree that there is way too much officiating and dissecting of the numerous rules of the game of football, you must be blind. Some of the rules in football are absolutely ridiculous.

One recent rule change I hate is that a kicking team on a kick off can not advance a free ball that they recover. The kick off was always a free kick, meaning that once the ball went 10 yards it was any teams ball to advance. These types of rule changes ruin the game. There are a million others....

The game of football is becoming a shadow of its former self.....

Jimmy