The refs explanation about jersey #s was lame asf, as was their brother in arms in the booth.
When did jersey #s matter especially when you can have 2 players wearing the same # as long as they're not on the field at the same time?
Faison got cheated out of a TD & one of the best plays I've ever witnessed as an ND fan.
Offensive Team Requirements—At the Snap
ARTICLE 4 Violation of each of the following (a-c) is a live-ball foul; the play
is allowed to continue
a Formation. At the snap Team A must be in a formation that meets these
requirements:
1 All players must be inbounds
2 All players must be either linemen or backs (Rule 2-27-4, A R 7-1
4-VIII)
3 At least five linemen must wear jerseys numbered 50 through 79
(Exception: When the snap is from a scrimmage kick formation, par
5 below )
4 No more than four players may be back
The pertinent section is that at least 5 linemen must wear jerseys numbered 50 - 79 unless the snap is from a scrimmage kick formation. ND did not have at least 5 linemen with those numbers. When Kiser got behind the center and took the snap, ND was no longer in a scrimmage kick formation so they were in violation of the rule. I imagine that the purpose of the rule is to make it easier for the defense to identify eligible receivers from ineligible receivers. We can bitch about it all we want but the call was correct.
ball hits the ground. Another technicality, but the rule is the rule.
The rule is if the punt returner has an opportunity to catch the kick after the muff, he must be given an unimpeded opportunity to complete the catch. The rule says nothing about the ball having to hit the ground. Only if the punt returner has an opportunity to catch it after the muff. So if the ball popped straight up in the air he would have an opportunity to catch it. If it hit him and bounced 10 yards away, he really wouldn't have an opportunity to catch that. In this particular instance, the ball rebounded off Hurleman pretty hard and the officials could have determined that he would not have been able to catch it after the muff.
Hurleman was never touched. His only contact was when he tackled the guy that caught his muff.
if we show them the play before the game (which blows my mind we even trust doing this) and they kick the tires on it, there should either be a 'that's a legal play' or 'we will flag that because of this rule' type determination.
So if they knew about this rule then, the good faith relationship would expect that they reveal it, since that's the reason to show them the play.
If they didn't know about it then...when was it realized? While later researching ways to 'get us'? ..or did they have the epiphany right when the play happened after drinking a red bull?
That, combined with two other things makes them seem very fishy.
1) the inequity in how OL holding was being enforced. It seemed like they were 'searching' for holding calls against us (the ones they flagged were valid) while averting their eyes from UVA holds (Mills blew by them multiple times and was openly grabbed from behind).
2) the thing that bothered me the most was when the refs went quick so UVA could get a play off before replay could review the ball they dropped that was called a catch.
refs were going out of way to penalize ND and looking other way at uva, I saw jerseys held by uva
this " screwing " has. been going on far too.long from hunter being laid out in end z
one to fla st call. NDmust make this public, there's a pattern. I don't mind calls aslong as there is. consistency
1. How do you know this?
2. If the refs knew there was something with this play that had special number considerations, don't they mention 'if you do this you can't do that'
The refs are dispassionate observers.
It is the team's responsibility to know if a play is legal.
At the end of the day, the responsibility for knowing the rules lies with the coaching staff. The special teams coach should know that he subs DBs and linebackers for the big uglies for punt coverage and that they don't meet the numbering requirements if they shift out of punt formation. There are two ways that you could run that play and keep it legal. One would be to keep your linemen in for that play. The other would be to give your coverage guys uniform numbers for that play which would make it a legal formation. Of course, each of them would have to report the number change to the officials who would then notify the opposing team. Either way, if you do those things, you are pretty much tipping off the other team that something was coming.
Or at least not as much as they used to.
AND was this rule enforced consistently throughout the game? Probably not.
Why the jersey numbers have to change depending on who is positioned to take the snap is beyond me. They implied that if the up man were to the side slightly, it would have been a kick formation and therefore ok. If that is the rule, the rule needs to be changed.
