Here's the NCAA Rule. Based on the photos previously posted, were there seven on the line of scrimmage? Lineman and Back ARTICLE 4. a. Any Team A player in one of the following positions is a lineman. 1. A lineman is any Team A player legally on his scrimmage line when the ball is snapped. An interior lineman is any Team A player legally on his scrimmage line and positioned between the end Team A players who are also on the line of scrimmage at the snap. An ineligible pass receiver of Team A is “on his scrimmage line’’ at the snap when he faces his opponent’s goal line with the line of his shoulders parallel thereto and his head breaking the plane of the line drawn through the waistline of the snapper. 2. An eligible pass receiver of Team A is “on his scrimmage line’’ at the snap when he faces his opponent’s goal line with the line of his shoulders approximately parallel thereto and his head breaking the plane of the line drawn through the waistline of the snapper. 3. A Team A player also is a lineman when, after the ball is ready for play and the snapper touches or simulates (hand at or below his knees) touching the ball, his head breaks the plane of the line drawn through the waistline of the snapper (Exception: Rule 7-1-3-b-1). b. A back is any Team A player whose head or body does not break the plane of the line drawn through the rear-most part, other than the legs or feet, of the nearest Team A player (except the snapper) on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped. A lineman becomes a back before the snap when he moves to a position as a back and stops (A.R. 2-27-4- I).
This seems to be the key point on this play. Doucet's head (or was it LaFell?) is clearly behind the waistline of the center, the 2nd line drawn on that pic. This confirms what I thought, we got a nice break.
Thanks for tracking down the rule... Doucet is definitely too far back to be considered on the line of scrimmage. (I'm sure we could review every play of the game and come across other instances when penalties for holding, illegal chop blocking, etc. happened, but this play is a "biggie" because a ref actually threw a flag on it, and then waved it off. Didn't the Auburn or Florida game last year have a penalty waved off that hurt LSU - pass intereference maybe?
No doubt. We've seen our share of bad calls. Nice to get a couple for a change. He did it the entire game, which made no sense. We're 11th in the SEC in kickoff returns, even with Holliday back there. The other thing is why Tubby didn't use his timeouts once we got in FG position. He left 2 TOs on the scoreboard. I would have used them to make sure I have a few seconds left on the clock for the offense.
Exactly. I hope Auburn fans are the ones losing the sleep. And I hope they are filled with rage every time they think about how they got hosed by the officials. It couldn't have worked out any better for LSU fans after our hosing last year. They will have to suffer a full year just like us. Only difference is we actually had a shot at the title last year.
The bad no call on the Dorsey cheap shot, at the very least, cancels out this bad no call. Also, am I mistaken, or is this yet another game without a holding call going against the opposing OLine? What have there been, 2 or 3 holding calls all year against our opponents? Ridiculous.
For what its worth, I spoke with a friend who is an official. He indicated that typically, if the WR is about 1-1.5 yds off the line of scrimmage, he is considered to be covering the tackle. The WR usually checks with the Line Judge who oks his position on the line. He also indicated that the slot receiver and TE are generally about 2-2.5 yds off the LOS. Therefore, in his opinion, our WR was on the LOS. In this particular case, he indicated the LJ on the other side of the line from the WR threw the flag, and the call was overruled by the LJ on the WR side.
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