Time Out before Illegal Substitution

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

I have to admit I'm supremely surprised at the number of officials blowing off this foul. There are rules that we are supposed to weigh advantage / disadvantage (holding away from the play, for example). This is not one of them. Ignoring this foul, to me, is like ignoring a false start on your side of the line because the play went the other way.

Regardless of ruleset, IS happens WHEN IT HAPPENS. If you're already recounting the 12 ... it happened. This is not an advantage/disadvantage type of foul. They broke the rule when the replaced player didn't leave (FED) or they broke the huddle (NCAA). A time out after the fact cannot negate what has already happened.

I'm completely amazed at the number of you (most of whom I know (from here) and respect (also from here)) ignoring this foul over a subsequent time out. This seems to me to be VERY contrary to the spirit of the rule.

To those ignoring this foul ... if the sub comes in, doesn't leave, you count... you start to recount (5 seconds ... 6 seconds) and THEN a player leaves the huddle --- do you ignore it then? What if he leaves the huddle and THEN the coach calls a time out? Too much inconsistency in ignoring this, to me. And no, I'm not exactly known as an OOO.

Delaying a substitution or attempting to play with 12 players is an advantage for the team doing it so this is most definitely an advantage/disadvantage foul. If I'm the d-coordinator, I may call my play based on what personnel you have and if you have an extra player, I'm at a disadvantage.

The difference in your last situation is that you caught the issue before the time out because you recognized the foul quickly. You have no idea if they will call time out to correct the situation before the snap. If they are able to get the time out before anyone throws a flag, the advantage they had with the extra player goes away. They will get their 11 players corrected and the defense will be able to adjust.