Enforcement on the punt return that never was

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

I (somewhat) understand the waive off you describe - although this is likely more of a halftime discussion with U. But you can't hold a flag and then throw it later when you discover it mattered,

I was the CC on a city final and had this: sweep to the right side, with the ball carrier out of the pocket. The left guard was still dealing with a defensive player (call him B30), and totally held him. There were 4-5 other defensive players chasing the ball carrier, so this player that was held was not going to contribute to A getting tackled. The LG is still legally blocking B30 with B30 having a tough time getting up again.

Sure enough, A reverses field and is now back towards player B30. Once B30's disadvantageous position mattered, the flag is thrown by myself.

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

especially on a kicking play. I fully get not penalizing for items away from the play. However, on a kick, EVERYTHING interacts with everything else, you have to assume it matters. (Also, what if some other official has a flag on the other team that you don't notice. NOW you're going to drop the flag for the foul you saw? That's just asking for trouble).

I disagree with that everything on a kicking play interacts with everything else. Having said that, recall that I'm Canajun and our field is 50% bigger than yours. While my college conference does pay special attention to gunners, there is much more room for players to be "away from the play".

I'm not sure what you're getting at with the other flag, but we don't worry about throwing a flag to offset a different foul.