Facemask on offense philosophy

[Rich]

This is one place where the college rule is actually more severe than the HS rule -- hands to the face in the NCAA book is actually a 15-yard penalty. We had one on Saturday. I know the NFHS considers it an illegal blocking technique, hence the 10.

If the HTF is really aggressive and doesn't come off the face at all, our HS crew has agreed that we'll bump that up to a PF for UNR. So far this year, we've had 3 HTF and we went 10 for all three of them.

And I agree and disagree with the association. In theory, it's impossible to get a 5 yard facemask considering the HTF rule (with the exception being if the runner is involved). And yet...if hands end up on the face and come right off, we usually don't flag that at all (unless they don't come off or unless they strike the opponent in the face). So there probably is some wiggle room.

I think the best solution is to eliminate the 5-yard facemask like at the other levels of the game. Many of those 5-yard FM fouls should be 15-yard fouls and the rest shouldn't be fouls at all.

[maven]

Originally Posted by Rich

This is one place where the college rule is actually more severe than the HS rule -- hands to the face in the NCAA book is actually a 15-yard penalty. We had one on Saturday. I know the NFHS considers it an illegal blocking technique, hence the 10.

If the HTF is really aggressive and doesn't come off the face at all, our HS crew has agreed that we'll bump that up to a PF for UNR. So far this year, we've had 3 HTF and we went 10 for all three of them.

And I agree and disagree with the association. In theory, it's impossible to get a 5 yard facemask considering the HTF rule (with the exception being if the runner is involved). And yet...if hands end up on the face and come right off, we usually don't flag that at all (unless they don't come off or unless they strike the opponent in the face). So there probably is some wiggle room.

I think the best solution is to eliminate the 5-yard facemask like at the other levels of the game. Many of those 5-yard FM fouls should be 15-yard fouls and the rest shouldn't be fouls at all.

1. The NFL rule is both more and less severe: 10 yards for foul by offense; 5 yards, auto 1st down for foul by defense.

2. I like the philosophy of being open to upgrading HTF to a PF. It often deserves more than a mere blocking foul. Similar in that respect to an IBB: away from the back, player gets hit in the back, we're generally going PF for UNR.

3. I also like the philosophy of avoiding most 5-yard FM fouls. Most often it's either a safety issue (PF) or it's nothing.