Ball Spotting

[Tim C]

Hi guys,

OK, I can admit it when I get confused. I went back and read two great threads on this subject and I thought I had my hands around not only the concept but the practical side of this issue.

I watched a number of college games yesterday and I saw Umpires repeatedly place the ball to an "exact" yard line before the new snap.

You White Hats explained this very well previously.

Then by watching two separate games I got cross-threaded:

In the Rice game a runner was taken down inside the 1 yard line. Before the next snap the Umpire came in and moved the ball back about 1 foot so the nose of the ball was on the 1. I was fine with that.

Then in the Oregon game the Duck runner was downed at about the 1' line. Prior to the next snap the Umpire stepped in and placed the ball back to the identical position that was down in the Rice game.

The next Duck play the runner was downed about 1' short of the 1 yard line. Before the next snap the Upire stepped in and placed the nose of the ball at the 2 yard line.

Now this was all very understandable and consistent.

Then I got punched in the gut:

In the Rice game there was a measurement for a 1st down. I would say the distance was about 6" short of the marked yard line. They brought the chains in and placed the ball . . . it was about 1' from the next yard line.

When the offense came to the line the Umpire DID NOT remark the ball and let them play from a "non-marked" line.

So what confused me is that in the first two examples teams had about 1' to score a touchdown and the ball was replaced but when a team was going for the first down the ball was not remarked.

This seems to fly in the face of logic.

Can you guys give me some advice?

Thanks,

T