Continuation of Scoring Play

[bisonlj]

Nobody answered his original question as to why this foul is enforced this way. I believe it is because the runner did not gain an advantage with the foul and did not contact an opponent when committing the foul. Philosophically most fouls allow the offense to gain an advantage by fouling (block in the back, holding, chop block, etc.) so you only award them the yardage they gained to the foul and penalize from there. That is an over-generalization but most penalty enforcement follows that logic.

The reason the NCAA changed their rule last year to consider UNS a live ball enforcement like any other live ball foul was because they felt it was punitive enough to eliminate the taunting and such before a score. I would have to say they were wildly successful because you rarely seeing any kind of celebration before the runner gets to the end zone. Now if they could do the same thing with these helmets popping off.

[Rickwill]

thanks, your reasoning for why in some rule sets the touchdown is still allowed makes alot of sense.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

Nobody answered his original question as to why this foul is enforced this way. I believe it is because the runner did not gain an advantage with the foul and did not contact an opponent when committing the foul. Philosophically most fouls allow the offense to gain an advantage by fouling (block in the back, holding, chop block, etc.) so you only award them the yardage they gained to the foul and penalize from there. That is an over-generalization but most penalty enforcement follows that logic.

I think that's part of the reason. Another part may be that for acts such as taunting, it may be difficult to determine the spot of the foul. So, for instance, a player running down the field flips the bird to someone. Is the spot of the foul where he was when he extended the finger, when he extended his arm enough to make it noticeable, or when the person he intended the message for noticed?

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Another part may be that for acts such as taunting, it may be difficult to determine the spot of the foul. So, for instance, a player running down the field flips the bird to someone. Is the spot of the foul where he was when he extended the finger, when he extended his arm enough to make it noticeable, or when the person he intended the message for noticed?

Well we have to figure this out in NCAA and frankly, I've never had a problem with it the few times I've called it. As the saying goes, sometimes you just have to officiate.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Well we have to figure this out in NCAA and frankly, I've never had a problem with it the few times I've called it. As the saying goes, sometimes you just have to officiate.

The one time I called this, it was not on the runner. Score was already out of hand and the runner was probably 50 yards ahead of me. A lineman started taunting a DL, across the line, so I flagged it. After explaining to the coach, that kid didn't come back on the field, and to my surprise, the coach thanked me for "having the balls to call that".