Horse collar rule

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by yankeesfan

Is the horse collar rule different in nfhs and college football? I have seen some plays in college football this year where I would of never called a horse collar like in the ohio state-penn state game, so I was thinking the rules must be different in both.

I think the horse collar call in the Ohio State-Penn State game was just a miss by the covering official. He tackled him by the outside of the jersey between the shoulders rather than getting his hand in side the collar.

[Reffing Rev.]

I heard at a clinic in 2012 that at least the Big 10 guys are taught that its possible to grab the collar of the shoulder pads from outside the jersey...I.e. if the action causes the same effect, the "buckling of the knees," they aren't picking nits on whether the hand is inside or outside. Play the game lower.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

I heard at a clinic in 2012 that at least the Big 10 guys are taught that its possible to grab the collar of the shoulder pads from outside the jersey...I.e. if the action causes the same effect, the "buckling of the knees," they aren't picking nits on whether the hand is inside or outside. Play the game lower.

That would explain the call. He did go down as if horse-collared, but the tackler had him in the name plate area.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

I heard at a clinic in 2012 that at least the Big 10 guys are taught that its possible to grab the collar of the shoulder pads from outside the jersey...I.e. if the action causes the same effect, the "buckling of the knees," they aren't picking nits on whether the hand is inside or outside. Play the game lower.

I've also heard from a training tape that this is a supported call (grabbing the back of the jersey and pulling down, creating the same effect as a HCT).

[InsideTheStripe]

Is this the play in question?

[scrounge]

The slide made it look more like a horse collar than it really was but I don't have a huge problem with that call. Err on the side of safety.

Of course, it would have been nice to call the massive, blatant hold on the left tackle, but that's a different thread!

[Eastshire]

That's the play.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by Rich

I've also heard from a training tape that this is a supported call (grabbing the back of the jersey and pulling down, creating the same effect as a HCT).

I wonder if this is a Big 10 region thing. I can't say I've ever heard that here but it doesn't mean it wasn't said.

[Rich]

Semi-related:

We had it happen in a HS game. Both the wing and I (the R) clearly saw that the nameplate was grabbed. Same effect as a HCT. We didn't flag it.

Naturally, the other sideline thought the hand was inside. I told the coach what happened and he was fine with the explanation.

After the game, we had a philosophical discussion on whether we should've flagged that anyway. Appears we weren't the only ones to have that kind of discussion.

Question for TX HS officials: Do you exempt players in the tackle box from a HCT foul (pure NCAA rules)?

[Welpe]

Yes, we go by strict NCAA rules for horse collars.

[JRutledge]

That is not a horse-collar IMO.

Peace