Illegal Formation Penalties

[Mavric]

Wasn't there also a penalty on a Kickoff for the kicker being too far off the ball? Never seen that one called before.

It's in Post #9 above.

It wasn't the kicker. The kicker can be as far back as he wants. But the other 10 players have to be within 5 yards of the kickoff line. That rule has been in for several years now.

 

[Mavric]

Miami only has 10 guys on the field for this play - they're missing their right TE.

Im guessing there was a WR wide out to the left. If not, we only had 10 on the field too.

Yeah, you could be right there. So it was probably that receiver who was also off the line, probably because he saw he had a TE on his side.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I have a question on this.

OK, so let's say you are a WR on a side there is a TE. Is there a reason why you don't want to be on the LOS?

 

[Mavric]

I have a question on this.

OK, so let's say you are a WR on a side there is a TE. Is there a reason why you don't want to be on the LOS?

If you are, the TE is not an eligible receiver. So the formation would be fine but you don't have as many guys to throw to.

 

[Tomhusker64]

Wasn't there also a penalty on a Kickoff for the kicker being too far off the ball? Never seen that one called before.

It's in Post #9 above.

It wasn't the kicker. The kicker can be as far back as he wants. But the other 10 players have to be within 5 yards of the kickoff line. That rule has been in for several years now.

Thanks. Was thinking it was called on the kicker.

 

[kreutz35]

I have a question on this.

OK, so let's say you are a WR on a side there is a TE. Is there a reason why you don't want to be on the LOS?

If you're on the line of scrimmage then the TE would be ineligible to be a receiver.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I have a question on this.

OK, so let's say you are a WR on a side there is a TE. Is there a reason why you don't want to be on the LOS?

If you are, the TE is not an eligible receiver. So the formation would be fine but you don't have as many guys to throw to.

So, it's just the first receiver after the TE that needs to be off the LOS, the rest need to be on the LOS so there isn't more than 4 in the back field?

 

[Savage Husker]

Sorry if this sidetracks, just don't want to start a new thread for a simple Q&A. The kickoff penalty...what the heck was that about?

 

[84HuskerLaw]

Here is one of the other Illegal Formation calls from the Miami game. We clearly do not have a WR on the line on the right side of the formation. It was the same way for BYU. So there may be more being called. But the assumption seems to be that the refs are just calling it more. It seems to me that we just aren't as good at getting lined up in the correct formation.

I'm not saying we are lining up correctly. I'm saying MAYBE they're calling it more.

The question is, have they always called this and we've always lined up correctly before, or is this a new focus for officials this year? It isn't only Nebraska they're calling it on; they called it on BYU more than Nebraska in the first game (twice for them, once for us).

Perhaps someone needs to inform me but I believe, if I look at the picture that we are lined up OK We have 4 behind the line of scrimmage (not 5). That is perfectly legal. There is no requirement that Westy need be on the line. you can have 4 in the backfield (aka the wishbone for example) but no more. The rest must be within a yard of the LOS. I believe that is the rule.

 

[Savage Husker]

I have a question on this.

OK, so let's say you are a WR on a side there is a TE. Is there a reason why you don't want to be on the LOS?

If you are, the TE is not an eligible receiver. So the formation would be fine but you don't have as many guys to throw to.

So, it's just the first receiver after the TE that needs to be off the LOS, the rest need to be on the LOS so there isn't more than 4 in the back field?

Not exactly. It might be easier to understand if you look at it from outside in.
If an outside wideout is on the LOS, then to be lined up inside and be an elibigle man downfield, the inside players have to lineup off of the LOS.

If the outside wideout lines up on the LOS he "covers" up any other WR/TE that lines up on the same side and is on the LOS. That means the inside player lined up on the LOS cannot go downfield, he must stay and block.

If you have "trips" or 3 receivers on one side, and if the outside WR is on the LOS, then the other two must be off the LOS to go downfield. If trips again, the middle can be on the LOS and the other two have to be off. If the inside receiver is on the LOS then the outside two have to be off.

 

[hskrfan4life]

Here is one of the other Illegal Formation calls from the Miami game. We clearly do not have a WR on the line on the right side of the formation. It was the same way for BYU. So there may be more being called. But the assumption seems to be that the refs are just calling it more. It seems to me that we just aren't as good at getting lined up in the correct formation.

I'm not saying we are lining up correctly. I'm saying MAYBE they're calling it more.

The question is, have they always called this and we've always lined up correctly before, or is this a new focus for officials this year? It isn't only Nebraska they're calling it on; they called it on BYU more than Nebraska in the first game (twice for them, once for us).

Perhaps someone needs to inform me but I believe, if I look at the picture that we are lined up OK We have 4 behind the line of scrimmage (not 5). That is perfectly legal. There is no requirement that Westy need be on the line. you can have 4 in the backfield (aka the wishbone for example) but no more. The rest must be within a yard of the LOS. I believe that is the rule.

We do have more than 4, the WR on the left side of the formation is off the line as well, so he counts as 5.

These types of penalties also occur if there is a shift and I wide receiver doesn't move off the line or on the line.

 

[Savage Husker]

Here is one of the other Illegal Formation calls from the Miami game. We clearly do not have a WR on the line on the right side of the formation. It was the same way for BYU. So there may be more being called. But the assumption seems to be that the refs are just calling it more. It seems to me that we just aren't as good at getting lined up in the correct formation.

I'm not saying we are lining up correctly. I'm saying MAYBE they're calling it more.
The question is, have they always called this and we've always lined up correctly before, or is this a new focus for officials this year? It isn't only Nebraska they're calling it on; they called it on BYU more than Nebraska in the first game (twice for them, once for us).

Perhaps someone needs to inform me but I believe, if I look at the picture that we are lined up OK We have 4 behind the line of scrimmage (not 5). That is perfectly legal. There is no requirement that Westy need be on the line. you can have 4 in the backfield (aka the wishbone for example) but no more. The rest must be within a yard of the LOS. I believe that is the rule.

have to be lined up through the Center's belt/hip line, I believe. Like others have mentioned, it could be a point of emphasis this year, thus being ticky tacky and calling it more stringent and why we see it more often.
Maybe thanks to Patriots for exploiting the rules against the Ravens last playoffs (They played it within the rules which is why it wasn't illegal and flagged, but NFL just updated their rules to prevent that formation the Pats rolled out with). Could be how/why NCAA is cracking down on it.

Idk. Just throwing it out there.

 

[Hujan]

There are too many rules in football.

 

[Mavric]

Here is one of the other Illegal Formation calls from the Miami game. We clearly do not have a WR on the line on the right side of the formation. It was the same way for BYU. So there may be more being called. But the assumption seems to be that the refs are just calling it more. It seems to me that we just aren't as good at getting lined up in the correct formation.

I'm not saying we are lining up correctly. I'm saying MAYBE they're calling it more.

The question is, have they always called this and we've always lined up correctly before, or is this a new focus for officials this year? It isn't only Nebraska they're calling it on; they called it on BYU more than Nebraska in the first game (twice for them, once for us).

Perhaps someone needs to inform me but I believe, if I look at the picture that we are lined up OK We have 4 behind the line of scrimmage (not 5). That is perfectly legal. There is no requirement that Westy need be on the line. you can have 4 in the backfield (aka the wishbone for example) but no more. The rest must be within a yard of the LOS. I believe that is the rule.

We have 4 plus Westy because he didn't get up far enough to be on the line. Three WRs, QB and RB are all off the line. Westy tried to step up at the last minute but didn't get up far enough.

 

[Mavric]

I have a question on this.

OK, so let's say you are a WR on a side there is a TE. Is there a reason why you don't want to be on the LOS?

If you are, the TE is not an eligible receiver. So the formation would be fine but you don't have as many guys to throw to.

So, it's just the first receiver after the TE that needs to be off the LOS, the rest need to be on the LOS so there isn't more than 4 in the back field?

Of the player who are lined up on the LOS, only the guy on each end (closest to the sideline) is an eligible receiver. You're required to have seven so usually this is the five linemen plus the two receivers, one on either side.

But there is no requirement for how you have to line up or a maximum to have on the line. Sometimes teams will motion so that the tackle is on the end of the line and there are two receivers on the line on the other side of the formation. That is a legal formation but the receiver who is between the tackle and the and the outside receiver on the line is ineligible.

In this example the left tackle is on the end of the line with both the Y and Z on the line on the right side. The formation is legal but the Y is ineligible.

You can actually have all 10 players (other than the QB) be on the line of scrimmage and it be a legal formation. But only the two guys on either end would be eligible receivers.