Chalk Talk - Ineligible man downfield

[Coleman Feeley]

 
submitted on Today, 03:36 PM in Featured By Coleman Feeley
 
It appears that the only constant in College Football is change. Already, the NCAA Football Rules Committee has proposed an amendment to limit the distance an ineligible receiver can move downfield from three yards to one yard. This may seem like a small change that won’t limit many offenses; however, with multiple reads becoming more popular in college football, it will have a significant impact on many teams.

Through the evolution of Spread Offense, a new multiple-read play has evolved dubbed the ‘Pop Pass’. While technically illegal within the rules of the game today, it is an extremely difficult call to officiate. Currently the NCAA states that no ineligible receiver may travel more than three yards downfield on any pass play. Let’s take a look at exactly how teams have utilized that rule/distance to shape success on offense.

Ineligible Receivers

This term is most often associated with offensive linemen and in-game penalties are almost exclusively reserved for linemen. In Rule 7, Section 3, Article 3 of the NCAA handbook, eligible receivers are identified by their positions on the field and their jersey numbers. By number, any jersey excluding the numbers 50 through 79 are eligible. By position on the field, the only eligible receivers are either the last man on the Line of Scrimmage [LOS] or off the ball (fig 1).

Ineligible Man Downfield

Many fans aren’t familiar with this penalty’s specifics due to its infrequent enforcement. The rule, mostly in place to preserve the play action pass, states that linemen or ‘ineligible receivers’ are only allowed to move three yards downfield before any pass. If called, the play results in a five yard penalty and a subsequent replay of the down.

Until recent experimentation with eight-member officiating crews in a number of conferences, there have been seven officials operating Division 1 college football games with each one being responsible for different areas of the field. Generally speaking, the Head Referee (HR) watches offensive linemen; his position on the field, however, doesn’t give him the best vantage point to measure the distance any lineman travels. The ref with the best view to judge downfield distance is the Linesman (LM) and he is primarily focused on the LOS pre-play in order to call false starts and offside penalties.

In reaction to an increase in up-tempo offenses in college football and the overall positive feedback from conferences employing an eighth official, the Rules Committee proposed increasing all officiating crews from seven to eight-man (a number of last season’s Bowl games and the first-ever Championship game employed eight-member crews) . This new ‘Center Judge’ (CJ) lines up in the offensive backfield opposite the HR. While his responsibility is spotting the ball, he lends greater scrutiny on illegal blocks and defensive substitutions (fig 2).

Pop Pass

While the Pop Pass isn’t technically legal, officiating crews have an extremely hard time determining the distance a lineman (ineligible receiver) travels down field. This difficulty allows the play to become functional and has led to many debated touchdowns. The Pop Pass is a Run-Pass option.

To execute a Pop pass, at the snap of the ball, offensive linemen and running backs carry out assignments for a run play. This means that linemen aggressively fire-off the ball and run block. Meanwhile, the wide receivers and tight-ends carry out a pass play. Within the rules of the game this is legal. The trouble arises when linemen (ineligible receivers) attempt to block second level defenders (linebackers and sometimes safeties). Simply put, if linebackers are blocked they cannot cover a pass. One of the most infamous examples was Auburn’s Pop Pass against Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl.

Auburn lined up in their popular version of the Pistol with ‘11 personnel’ (one utility back, one running back) and ran a Zone Read/Pop Pass (Fig 3).

The efficiency of this play lies in the responsibilities of the defensive secondary. When safeties and corners see linemen downfield and a quarterback carry out a Zone Read, their responsibility is to fill the gaps. When secondary players come ‘downhill’ (towards the Line of Scrimmage) there is, obviously, space created behind them.

Again, much of the success of the Pop Pass comes from its questionable legality. The unquestionable key to this play, however, is the downfield movement of ‘ineligible receivers’. Replicating the NFL with the new one yard ‘buffer zone’ will certainly reduce the number of these controversial offensive play calls in college ball. With this rule change officials will have an improved view of what qualifies an ineligible man downfield; the difference between three and four yards may be difficult to determine, but the distance between one and three yards is not.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Good stuff, Coleman

Here's an article by Ian Boyd sighting examples of pop passes and their legality under the updated rule. You can bet that NCAA officials will be focusing on this in 2015. 

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/2/16/8045869/pop-pass-ncaa-new-rules-option-play-action-auburn-kansas-state-baylor

 

[chilly52]

Good article Coleman. I wonder how many people noticed that the field seemed to be more crowded with zebras in that NCAA Championship game.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

If it gets enforced, this will change the way half of the OC's in the Big 12 call games.

 

[Coleman Feeley]

Good stuff, Coleman

Here's an article by Ian Boyd sighting examples of pop passes and their legality under the updated rule. You can bet that NCAA officials will be focusing on this in 2015. 

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/2/16/8045869/pop-pass-ncaa-new-rules-option-play-action-auburn-kansas-state-baylor

I read that... I was a little disappointed with the muddled definition of the Pop Pass.

The example between OU and WVU is just a play action. The QB really doesn't have much of an option in running or passing. In reality, every offensive Line Coach just tells their guys to run block on any play action pass so that's not really the focus of this new rule (it will however, be penalized frequently next year). The danger of the Pop Pass is when only the QB and Receiver know the ball will be thrown. 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

I read that... I was a little disappointed with the muddled definition of the Pop Pass.

The example between OU and WVU is just a play action. The QB really doesn't have much of an option in running or passing. In reality, every offensive Line Coach just tells their guys to run block on any play action pass so that's not really the focus of this new rule (it will however, be penalized frequently next year). The danger of the Pop Pass is when only the QB and Receiver know the ball will be thrown. 

Good point.

I thought the same thing while viewing a couple of the video clips.