Be the Referee: Other Football Changes
September 7, 2017
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl discusses a few final football rules in the final of a three-part series on changes in the sport for this fall.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Other Football Rules Changes - Listen
Today in our final segment of a three-part series on the football rules changes for the 2017 season, we’re going to be looking at three items:
• On passing plays, pass interference will no longer be called when the defender is simply face guarding the receiver with no contact.
• In the final two minutes of a half, the team accepting a penalty will now have the option of restarting the game clock with the snap of the ball, rather than the referee’s ready-for-play signal.
• This is the second year of an experiment in Michigan with a 40- second play clock, which starts shortly after a play is over, replacing the 25-second play clock which was always started by the referee marking the ball ready for play.
Past editions
August 31: Pop-Up Onside Kicks - Listen
August 24: Blindside Blocks - Listen
Be the Referee: Field Goal Falls Short
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
September 30, 2021
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Field Goal Falls Short - Listen
Three things can happen if a field goal attempt crosses the line of scrimmage but comes up short of the goal line. Do you know all three?
First, the ball can go out of bounds. If that happens, the ball is dead and on the change of possession, the team newly on offense takes over where the ball went out of bounds.
Second, the kicking team can be the first to touch the ball. When that happens, this is the first touching and again the team newly on offense takes over where the ball was downed.
And third, the receiving team can return the kick. And they would take over on offense after the returner has been tackled or goes out of bounds.
Think of a field goal attempt as a punt, and you’ll always know what’s possible if the kick comes up short of the goal line.
Previous editions
Sept. 23: Volleyball Obstruction - Listen
Sept. 16: Catch or No Catch - Listen
Sept. 9: Intentional Grounding – Listen
Sept. 2: Pass Interference – Listen
Aug. 26: Protocols and Mechanics – Listen