General

Are Illegal Fake Field Goals Illegal Or Not?

Oct 23, 2009, 8:23 PM UTC

â†µEarlier this year, Clemson and Georgia Tech played a game thatâ†µfeatured not one but two instances of the old run-the-guy-off-but-don’tâ†µfake field goal:â†µ

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â†µâ†µClemson, remarkably, pulled off a similar gambit on a second-halfâ†µdrive that ended in a game-tying field goal. Back in the old days,â†µpeople would run this by sending a receiver one foot onto the field, butâ†µthe NCAA outlawed that by requiring any substitute to come inside theâ†µnumbers lest they throw an illegal substitution flag. Teams now getâ†µaround this by leaving a receiver on the field, and refs let it go. â†µ

â†µâ†µThey apparently shouldn’t. In the aftermath of the GT-Clemson game,â†µthe ACC retroactively declared the plays illegal:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Both plays in Thursday’s game should have been flagged and nullified forâ†µâ‡¥violating a rule prohibiting substitution tactics that may confuseâ†µâ‡¥opponents, ACC coordinator of football officials Doug Rhoads saidâ†µâ‡¥Monday.â†µâ†µâ†µDoctorâ†µSaturday’s not a fan of the persnickety ruling. Neither am I, butâ†µfor different reasons: saying any attempt to “simulateâ†µreplacement” is illegal is hugely vague, and when you give referees â†µdiscretion they’re just given one more opportunity to screw it up. Comeâ†µup with something concrete or let it go.â†µ

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â†µDespite the blogosphere's discontent at the ruling, it is what it is.â†µAs such, you'll note something missing from this play: â†µ

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â†µâ†µThat missing item would be a flag. The Pac-10 would like you to knowâ†µthat there should have been one, and Charlie Weis would like toâ†µsay “no comment” and then comment: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I will have no comment on it,” Weis said Thursday. ...â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Weis did say that he warned the officials that the Irish wouldâ†µâ‡¥throw “the kitchen sink” at the Trojans -- though â†µâ‡¥apparently wary of conference conspiracy theories, he didn’t get intoâ†µâ‡¥detail.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ‡¥“I’m not going to tell the Pac-10 officials, ever, that we haveâ†µâ‡¥a special play,” Weis said. “I won’t tell them the next time â†µâ‡¥either. They’re going to have to call it as it happens. And that mightâ†µâ‡¥not be the only conference-affiliated officiating crew I don’t tell thatâ†µâ‡¥there’s something special we’re doing, if you get my drift.â†µâ‡¥
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â†µâ‡¥“But what I usually do is I usually say, we’ve got a bunch ofâ†µâ‡¥wrinkles in here, so be on guard. Not that we ever have a vanilla gameâ†µâ‡¥plan, but if I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary, I’ll just sayâ†µâ‡¥we don’t have anything out of the ordinary.”â†µâ†µâ†µNo one refuses to comment at length like Charlie Weis does. It’s aâ†µschematic advantage. â†µ

â†µâ†µWeis continues to stoke the Notre Dame fanbase’s officiatingâ†µconspiracy mania by suggesting he wouldn’t dare tell an officiatingâ†µcrew what he has planned in fears they would scurry over to the otherâ†µteam and blow it, and he does this in spite of the Pac-10 blowing notâ†µonly that above call but two separate personal fouls on Taylor Maysâ†µand the two-point conversion against Washington that preventedâ†µNotre Dame from losing that game in regulation. Pac-10 referees haveâ†µbeen about as valuable to Notre Dame as Golden Tate. If anything, heâ†µshould be asking them for pointers on opponents.â†µ

â†µâ†µBack to the field goal: is this thing illegal or not? It’s a zenâ†µkoan: if directors of officials across the land think a rule exists butâ†µthe officials themselves don’t, does the rule exist? And how is anâ†µofficial supposed to throw a flag on this? What do they call it?â†µ“Um, I think this guy over here is cheating but I can’t reallyâ†µspecify why?” This rule is the opposite of obscenity: people â†µdon’t know it when they see it. The NCAA should give up this year andâ†µput in some rule to officially ban it next year. Waving your hands andâ†µtrying to erase touchdowns after the fact is pointless.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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