Welcome to Art of Officiating’s “Weekly Dozen”, comprising plays through September 27th. These videos are from Colorado games, so I’ll reference the Colorado 5-person mechanics manual and Colorado rules interpretations and modifications. Please consult your state’s mechanics manual and rules interpretations if I say something that doesn’t match what you do in your state.
Before we get into this week’s video, I need to correct one error I made in last week’s video. I showed the video of a punch by Team R during a try. I said Team K’s head coach had two penalty enforcement options. I failed to recognize that the personal foul happened after the ball passed through the uprights, so this was a dead-ball foul, not a live-ball foul. So Rule 8-3-5 does not apply. Rule 10-4-5b applies. It says the basic spot is the succeeding spot for a dead-ball foul. I apologize for the error, and I’m grateful for the phone call from one of my mentors who brought the mistake to my attention.
1 – Last week, while we reviewed a play with an illegal formation, I discussed the importance of finding the tight end when viewing the formation before the snap. Players are eligible to receive a forward pass when they wear an eligible number and are at the end of the line of scrimmage or in the backfield at the snap.
The formation is unbalanced to the line judge’s side of the field. There are only five eligible receivers, not six. The tight end A88 is not at the end of the line of scrimmage at the snap. He is therefore ineligible by position. The head linesman does not have an eligible receiver on his side of the field outside the line. During a passing play, he can take a longer look at his tackle, but he needs to be prepared to view eligible receivers who move into his coverage area, including the back behind the quarterback.
The line judge’s passing play initial responsibility is the player closest to the line, and the back judge’s initial responsibilities are the two players closest to the line judge.
A88 does not attempt to run a route. He’s only blocking on this play. B87 grabs A88 at the edge of the expanded neutral zone and pulls him an additional yard downfield. A88 is not ineligible downfield on this play.
So here’s an important question. How do we keep track of A88 to ensure he doesn’t move beyond the expanded neutral zone? He’s not the line judge’s responsibility. If the crew has radios, the line judge needs to inform the umpire that A88 is covered and is ineligible. If the crew doesn’t use radios, I’m not sure how this message can be relayed.
Savvy coaches will notice this formation nuance and train their defenders to react based on where numbers 0-49 and 80-99 line up, and whether they are eligible by position.
This formation is not common, but we need to be prepared to correctly identify players with eligible numbers who are ineligible by position.
2 – The line judge throws a flag for an illegal block in the back at the R-38. (The next snap was from the R-28.)
In my opinion, among all the rulings we make, the one most often called incorrectly is the block in the back. Rule 2-5-2 says blocking in the back is a block against an opponent when the initial contact is in the opponent’s back inside the shoulders and below the helmet and above the waist. One officiating standard is to look for “chasers.” Chasers will block an opponent from behind. A player who is not a chaser will not block an opponent in the back.
In my judgment, this is not a block in the back. The block was from the side and not from behind. The would-be tackler mostly fell trying to make a cut. It doesn’t appear the contact added much.
I’m not here to pick on one person’s call. The bigger issue is that blocks from the side get flagged far more often than they should.
Only flag it when the block in the back is clear, indisputable, and leaves no question. This is a foul that has to scream. If you think it might be a block in the back, it isn’t.
3 – When we think about Rule 9-1 helping the runner, we may think first about the “tush push,” which is legal in college football and the NFL, but illegal on Friday nights. Some high school coaches are unaware that the tush push is illegal, so we still occasionally see this foul.
It’s rarer to see an offensive player pull or lift the runner to assist his forward progress.
This is a foul. If the crews recognizes and flags this action as a foul, penalty enforcement would be 5 yards from the spot of the foul, and a replay of the down.
4 – This formation is balanced, so the head linesman’s passing play initial responsibilities or keys are the two players on his side. The back judge will view A25, the player closest to the line judge.
Let’s observe the action of the player closest to the linesman.
The outside player initiates contact with the defender and shoves him, creating separation before catching the pass. This is offensive pass interference.
It’s hard to tell in the video where the linesman looks after the snap. It’s obvious he doesn’t look into the backfield, so that’s a positive. He has two players on his side. He may be looking primarily at the inside player and miss the pushoff by the outside player.
This is a limitation of 5-person mechanics. When determining a “first look,” consider which player is closest to his defender. The inside player’s defender is 11 yards away at the snap, while the outside player’s defender is 5 yards away. This may help prioritize which player to focus on first. It’s obviously tougher when both defenders are in press coverage.
5 – When determining if an action deserves a flag for holding, we apply three officiating principles. These are not in the rules book, but they help us adjudicate the play. The three principles are: is a possible hold “demonstrated restriction,” is it “at the point of attack,” and did it impact the play?
Let’s look at A4’s block on B24.
Was it demonstrated restriction? I think it was.
But was it at the point of attack that impacted the play? It doesn’t appear so.
The restriction began when the runner was on the same yardline and about 4 yards away.
This would warrant a flag if it were a takedown block or a personal foul. If the head coach complained about the action, the referee could respond with, “Coach, I saw that block. It was not at the point of attack and didn’t impact the play.”
6 – Lately I’ve read social media posts about Team R players who intentionally go out of bounds and then touch a free kick that is still inbounds. Rule 9-6-2 says no player shall intentionally go out of bounds during the down and intentionally touch the ball. Rule 2-29-3 says a loose ball is out of bounds when it touches anything, including a player or game official that is out of bounds.
Rule 6-1-9 says a free kick shall not be kicked out of bounds between the goal lines untouched inbounds by R.
The covering official must judge if the Team R player intentionally went out of bounds before touching the ball. It is extremely difficult to judge intent. In this case, I wouldn’t rule the player intentionally went out of bounds.
Team R players are allowed to unintentionally go out of bounds, so this touching is not a foul. When the player touches the ball, it is dead, and is ruled a free kick out of bounds. Team R can have Team K rekick from the K-35, or they can snap the ball from the R-35.
Hypothetically, if a player intentionally goes out of bounds and then touches a free kick, it is a double foul for illegal participation by Team R and a free kick out of bounds by Team K, and Team K will rekick from the K-40. The NFHS Rules Committee conducted a survey to determine whether the rule should be rewritten to only enforce the illegal participation foul, and the results came out 60-40 in support of enforcing the double foul. The Chairman said anyone who didn’t like it could submit a proposal to change it. It probably would not pass because it would involve an exception to basic definitions. But states are free to make their own interpretations.
7 – We discussed illegal motion in last week’s video, and we’ll see another example here. Rule 7-2-7 says A44’s motion must not be toward his opponent’s goal line. He motions to the A-37 and is on the A-39 when the ball is snapped. The illegal motion is a foul at the snap.
Now let’s judge the tackle on A7. A lift and body slam should be flagged as a personal foul. This is a lift and slam, but is it a foul? The defender is trying to put the runner to the ground. He can’t just hug the runner to the ground. He must apply some force to tackle the runner. But is the force excessive and unnecessary?
This looks like a clean tackle. Sometimes that happens when the runner is heavier. A lift and slam intended to punish the runner will scream louder than this. I like the no-call from this crew.
8 – In this clip, we’ll judge if the defender’s contact on the passer is unnecessary and if the referee should have thrown a flag for roughing the passer.
Rule 9-4-4 says defensive players must make a definite effort to avoid charging into a passer who has thrown the ball from in or behind the neutral zone after it is clear the ball has been thrown. The rule affords some judgment to the covering official. The referee has to rule on “definite effort” and “after it is clear the ball has been thrown.”
We employ officiating standards and principles to help adjudicate the action. The Colorado mechanics manual matches the NCAA Rules book officiating standards: On action against the passer, it is roughing the passer if the defender’s intent is to punish.
In your judgment, was it clear to the defender the ball had been thrown? In your judgment, did the defender make a definite effort to avoid charging into the passer?
In my judgment, when a defender contacts the quarterback after the ball is released, I want to see a wrap-up tackle. Coaches don’t teach their players to slam into the passer, and in my opinion that kind of contact demonstrates the defender knew the ball was gone. I recognize that not every referee applies the same standard.
I do think players can hold up when the quarterback releases the ball.
9 – There are currently 10 players on the field.
An eleventh player runs onto the field and is on his side of the neutral zone when the ball is snapped, so this is not an illegal substitution. (This action does not violate Rule 3-7-5.)
The player enters the field before the ball is snapped, so he does not violate Rule 3-7-6.
This is an illegal shift and is a live-ball foul simultaneous with the snap. Rule 7-2-6 says after a huddle or shift, all players of A shall come to an absolute stop and shall remain stationary for at least one second before the snap. The eleventh player cannot run onto the field and be moving when the ball is snapped. We then see a second player who goes in motion. Either situation confirms the need to throw the flag.
As with multiple other fouls we’ve discussed, the crew needs to officiate the entire play before addressing the foul. The wings need to mark forward progress, and the crew needs to dead-ball officiate and watch the players separate before checking with the offended team’s head coach about enforcing the penalty.
Note the score and time. It’s 73-35 with 10 minutes and 12 seconds remaining in the game. I’m sure the head coach will decline the penalty for the illegal shift and take the result of the play.
10 – There are three possible outcomes of this play:
Incomplete forward pass
Catch and fumble
Catch and forward progress stopped prior to the ball coming loose
How do we determine which of these occurred?
Rule 2-4-1 says a catch is the act of establishing player possession of a live ball which is in flight and first contacting the ground inbounds while maintaining possession of the ball.
The 2025 NFHS Redding Study guide adds clarity to the Rules Book. It says:
Catching a ball involves more than simply gaining possession. The rules do not provide great detail about the catch definition. Catching the ball is a process, not an act, and the process includes maintaining control of the ball “long enough.”
Maintaining control of the ball long enough means there is an undefined time element associated with a catch. If a player can perform an act common to the game, the ball has been controlled long enough to demonstrate a catch has been made. Such an act can be: long enough to pitch or hand the ball, advance it (two steps), avoid or ward off an opponent, tuck it in, turn upfield, or extend it.
I’ve watched this clip more than a dozen times in slow motion, and I still can’t decide if this is a catch. That’s where officiating standards can guide us: when in question, the pass should be ruled incomplete rather than a catch.
In my judgment, if there’s any doubt about which of the three outcomes occurred—incomplete pass, catch and forward progress stopped, or catch and fumble—the default should be incomplete pass.
In this video, the head linesman rules the receiver caught the ball and his forward progress was stopped, making it dead at the A-47. If that’s his decision, I’d like to see him confidently sell the call.
That means squaring off, pointing firmly to the ground, and—just as important—using his whistle and voice. I couldn’t hear him, but I hope he gave a sharp, repeated whistle (tweet, tweet, tweet—look at me!) followed by a loud voice, “That’s a catch! Forward progress here!”
One other point: after marking forward progress, he should turn his head and keep his eyes on the players, not the ground. Multiple players are scrambling for what they think is a loose ball. We must keep them in view as we mark forward progress. The umpire is looking back at the player on the ground. That leaves only the back judge to observe half of the players on the field.
11 – Here is an interesting formation on third and 10. There are five players numbered 50-79 on the line of scrimmage. There are four players in the backfield. There are six players eligible to catch a forward pass: the four in the backfield and the two at the ends of the line of scrimmage. Both wings point to the line of scrimmage to indicate their outside player is on the line of scrimmage. Everything is great!
Except, for some inexplicable reason, A1 decides he wants to be in the backfield. He steps back and indicates to the linesman he wants to be in the backfield. There is no reason for him to be in the backfield. The player to his left is A50, who is ineligible by number, so A1 doesn’t need to uncover him.
The linesman punches back, but the wings don’t recognize that this is now an illegal formation with five in the backfield. When one or both wings punch back, it’s important for them to count or recount the players in the backfield. This is fairly obvious, but for some reason, it was overlooked.
This play was designed to have only two downfield pass options for the quarterback. The formation is balanced, so the back judge should be first looking at A10 on the line judge’s side, not A1 on the linesman’s side.
When A11 approaches, his eyes are fortunately in the right place to pick him up.
A few more minor points. The line judge has his whistle out of his mouth and then puts it in his mouth when the ball is snapped. That’s backwards. If an official has a lanyard whistle, it should be in the mouth until the ball is snapped, and then as soon as the ball is snapped, spit it out. We shouldn’t officiate with the whistle in our mouths like basketball officials. We don’t want inadvertent whistles.
When A3 releases the ball, the line judge immediately turns to watch the flight of the pass. In this case, With the players separated, there was little potential for illegal contact behind the ball—but we must continue to practice good eye discipline.
Tracking the ball’s flight 30 yards away on the opposite side of the field provides no value. Our responsibility is not to be spectators. We must discipline ourselves to stay locked on our assigned players and resist the temptation to be ball-watchers.
Both wings remain at the line of scrimmage. As soon as the ball is released, the linesman should attempt to close down on the ball. As it happens, the back judge is left alone to make the call on this play.
We obviously don’t have the luxury of drone views while officiating, but I’m curious what you think about the defender’s contact on A11. Rule 7-5-10 says it is forward-pass interference if B interferes with an eligible opponent’s opportunity to move toward, catch, or bat the pass. We give some grace to a defender who is looking back at the ball, but that does not excuse the defender from pushing off to gain separation. Another way to consider this action is: if the roles were reversed, and the player in grey was the offensive player and the player in white was the defender, would you flag the player in grey for offensive pass interference?
I guess I don’t like the contact and the extended arm. It’s unfortunate the back judge is alone to make this call.
12 – Here’s our final clip of the week. There was an administrative stoppage prior to this play and the referee will soon blow the ready for play and wind the game clock with a 25 second play clock. Notice how the umpire is standing over the ball. If the referee will blow the ready, the umpire must stand over the ball until he is pushed back to his position. You’ll see a subtle nod from the referee to release the umpire. Umpires, never turn your back to the ball when you move to your position, especially when Team A is ready to snap the ball. The ball belongs to you, and you have multiple presnap responsibilities, including continually observing the ball’s position and the snapper’s actions. You can do none of that with your back to the ball.
Amazing whistle discipline by the line judge here. In most cases, we don’t need to be quick to blow the whistle. If the line judge blows his whistle now, he’s blown an inadvertent whistle. Have a patient and slow whistle.
By the way, we don’t have to have a whistle on every play. If you can’t see the ball, don’t blow the whistle. We blow the whistle to indicate the ball is dead by rule; if we can’t see the ball, how do we know the play is dead?
The line judge held his whistle. A54 picked up the fumble and advanced for a first down.
That’s your weekly dozen for games through September 27, 2025. Thanks for watching!
If you encounter any interesting plays during your season, I’d love to see them. You can send them to me at contact@artofofficiating.com.