Delay call AFTER/during a punt
 

Speaking as a fan, I don't understand what happened Saturday night during a game...

4th down. K team punts the ball and it trails OOB ~R25 yard line. Flag gets thrown ~R35. WH comes out and this is his announced explanation...

"Delay, receiving team, sideline warning. 1st down" (the 1st is for the receiving team).

Now, it is possible some of R's offense might have come onto the field a second or so before the whistle... they were definitely in the "coaches box" if not on the field, so we understood the sideline warning. When we saw the flag we thought a coach said something to an official. What could cause a "delay" penalty DURING play?

it sounds like the "delay" call is incorrect, probably just a sideline warning.

Yea, the first flag for sideline warning is just that, a warning, with no penalty marched off. second flag is 5 yards and third is an unsportsmnakike conduct penalty of 15 yards. Not sure why the R said "delay" but sometimes we make mistakes (no surprise huh?)

Just an extraneous delay signal. The only place a delay signal is in the middle of a sequence is failure to wear required equipment (caught prior to the snap).

Cool. Thanks guys. IIRC, they did step off 5 yards, but it was in the first half and really didn't affect the games outcome, just a question I had.

Thanks for the response.

ETA: I went back to the offical play by play and here's the line: TTU is the R team.

A delay of game on the receiving team would be when a receiver catches a fair catch and takes off running.

My crew had this call in a sophomore game this year. First one I can ever think of calling or being involved in.

Peace

Are you talking about a college game? If so, this is correct. We don't have warning any more when a coach is in the "white" restricted area off the sideline. The coaching box is 6 feet behind the sideline. The only warning they get are verbal warnings. We work as much as we can to get them back before we resort to throwing a flag. The first 2 flags are delay of game penalties and they are penalized at the end of the play. Any flags after those first 2 are then 15 yard penalties for sideline interference.

Yes, it is college. Thanks Jason. Is this a new rule this year? I didn't know coaches couldn't go into the "white area" (6' off the sideline). I thought players were restricted from there.

Sam, are you talking about the Texas Tech @ Texas game? I believe the removal of the sideline warning was one of the rule changes last year.

That restricted area (solid white 6 feet) is for officials, coaches get the next section and then the players get the next. That's how it's supposed to work anyways.

No, it has been like that for some time.

OK, thanks guys... learn something new.

Welpe... no, it was actually Tenn. Tech @ Eastern Kentucky.:cool:

Thanks for taking the time to answer everyone!