Spotting the Ball

[jimpiano]

What is the preferred mechanic for spotting the ball?

In the Alabama/ MissState game a third down play had a receiver tackled near the yard to gain. The Head Linesman marks a spot with his foot and when given the ball places the back end at his foot which extends the length of the ball toward the first down line. He then turns around to look at the chains and rules first down.

The chains were on the Alabama side of the field so the Rebels are crying
" Homer"!

Video of the play is on YOU TUBE.
Ref moving spot of the ball for alabama first down - YouTube
So how are officials taught to spot the ball?
Does the foot represent the front of the ball or the back of the ball?
Or is that decision an individual choice?

Just curious.

[JRutledge]

Honestly I do not know what to say to this. All officials are not taught the same things for multiple reasons. Usually you are instructed not to turn around but mark the ball. And a Head Linesman should know where to put the ball like clearly short or clearly beyond the line. And when you can on a long run start on a line. Other than that, where someone decides what their foot means or stands for is different to each individual on some level. Some officials use their front foot while others you the spot in between their foot. No standard that everyone uses no matter what. The problem that I have with this video was the fact he looked behind him at all. He had a spot and some reason looked behind him. He should know the spot, but then again this is the SEC.

Peace

[APG]

[CT1]

Although the mechanic leaves a lot to be desired, it appears from the video that he put the ball very near the actual spot.

If I were an Ole Miss fan, I would be more worried about the poor play of their QB in the 1st half.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by jimpiano

What is the preferred mechanic for spotting the ball?

In the Alabama/ MissState game a third down play had a receiver tackled near the yard to gain. The Head Linesman marks a spot with his foot and when given the ball places the back end at his foot which extends the length of the ball toward the first down line. He then turns around to look at the chains and rules first down.

The chains were on the Alabama side of the field so the Rebels are crying
" Homer"!

Video of the play is on YOU TUBE.
Ref moving spot of the ball for alabama first down - YouTube
So how are officials taught to spot the ball?
Does the foot represent the front of the ball or the back of the ball?
Or is that decision an individual choice?

Just curious.

It doesn't matter. It's *his* spot and *he's* putting the ball down. The foot is only relevant if someone else is spotting the ball off him.

[MD Longhorn]

The mechanic was ugly, and no, I've never seen anyone put out a foot and then put the ball ahead of it. I'd say it's about 75% foot at the front of the ball and 25% ball between the two feet... but as Rich says, he's got the spot and he's putting the ball down himself, not signalling to anyone else. It looked bad, and I'm with Jeff that it looked worse that he peaked back before (apparently) giving an extra 2 feet or so... And more of concern is that he stopped the clock immediately, like he knew it was a first down (normally, that's not HL's job on a play to his side), and then corrected it when he realized he erred in stopping the clock for what he was spotting as a non-first-down.

That said - I think the spot was RIGHT. It was just ugly.

[maven]

Originally Posted by CT1

If I were an Ole Miss fan, I would be more worried about the poor play of their QB in the 1st half.

But what fun is that, when you can blame the officials?

[bisonlj]

I believe what happened here is he got the spot right the first time (halfway between the 31 and 32) but he was thinking it was a half yard beyond the LTG (thus the stop clock signal). When he looked back he was surprised he was a half yard short. Thinking he must have accidentally spotted the ball short, he puts it down closer to the chains so it would be a first down. When the R comes over he tells him it's a first down. Chains moved quickly and everyone moves on. I'm surprised replay didn't address the spot.