SCRIMMAGE REQUIREMENTS & LIVE/DEAD BALL

Brian DohertySeptember 2, 2014

Team A RequirementsEncroachment (B&T)

• After the ready, once the snapper has touched the ball, offensive players may not be in or beyond the neutral zone. (Use common sense!)

False Starts (B&T)

• Interior Linemen, or any Linemen numbered 50-79, who have placed their hand on or near the ground, may not pick up their hand.

• Other team A players may not simulate the beginning of the play.

• If the offense never has all 11 players set for a full second between the ready and the snap, it is a false start.

Shifts (T)

• Two or more players may not be moving simultaneously at the snap.

• All members of the offensive team must stop and remain stopped for one second before any other player goes in motion or the ball is snapped.

Illegal Motion (T)

• One Team A player may be in motion at the snap.• The motion must not be toward the Team B goal line.• The man in motion may not start from the line.

Illegal Formations (T)

• More than 4 players in the backfield• Fewer than 5 players on the line numbered 50-79 (exception:

scrimmage kick formation).• At the snap in scrimmage kick formation, a numbering exception

player is not an interior lineman.• A player out of bounds.• Violation of the 9 yard mark rules.

Other Formation Info• To be on the line means your shoulders must be parallel to the goal

line and your head breaks a plane through the snapper’s waste.• During scrimmage kick formation, any number of players

numbered 50-79 may participate so long as the exception players are interior linemen.

• Team A substitutes must be inside the numbers sometime after the ball has been declared ready and before the snap.

Team B Requirements

Delay of Game (B&T)

• Team B may not call defensive signals that simulate the sound of cadence or interfere with Team A’s snap count.

• Defensive Players in stationary positions within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage may not make abrupt or exaggerated actions that are not part of normal movements in an attempt to draw a false start.

Offside Fouls (may be live or dead)

• Team B initiates contact with Team A before the snap. (B&T)

• Team B enters the neutral zone causing an immediate reaction by a threatened Team A player. (B&T)

• Team B enters the neutral zone and has an unimpeded path to the QB. (B&T)

• Team B is otherwise in or beyond the neutral zone at the snap. (T)

Line of Scrimmage Philosophies

• When in question as to whether an action is a false start or illegal motion, it is a false start.

• Work to keep offensive linemen legal and only flag when obvious or when warnings to both player and coach are ignored. Don’t wait for the 4th quarter!

• Don’t be technical with a wide receiver or slot back in determining if he is on or off the line of scrimmage. When in question, it is not a foul.

• Wide receivers or slots positioned outside the tight end will be ruled on the line of scrimmage if there is no stagger between their alignments. When is doubt, the TE is not covered up.

• Anytime a defensive player jumps toward the neutral zone and there is question as to whether his was in the zone and a threatened player reacts, shutdown the play and penalize the defense.

• Anytime a defensive player shoots the gap and there is question as to contact, shut the play down and rule offside.

Live / Dead Ball

• The ball becomes dead by rule or whenever an official blows his/her whistle (even inadvertently).

• Important– The covering official and only the covering official should blow his/her whistle to signify the ball is dead. Nine out of ten times this will the line of scrimmage official closest to the end of the play.

• All officials should dead ball officiate!!

Not so common reasons a live ball becomes dead…• A ball carrier simulates placing his knee on the

ground.• The ball carrier’s helmet comes completely off.• A free or scrimmage kick, untouched by Team B

beyond the neutral zone, touches the ground in the end zone.

• A return kick is made.• A player of the kicking team is beyond the neutral

zone when he makes a scrimmage kick.• On 4th down or a try, a teammate of the fumbler

catches or recovers the ball.

Play Situations

1. Team A puts 8 players on the line of scrimmage. End A81 shifts to the backfield leaving A77 on the end of the line. End A77 then rises from a 3 point stance and moves to a wider position on the line. Ruling?

2. 4th and 10 at the A-26. Team A is in formation with A21 and A33 side-by-side seven yards behind the line. Neither is directly behind the snapper. At the snap, B53 charges the snapper directly and pushes him back. A21 throws an incomplete pass. Ruling?

3. Team A is losing with less than a minute remaining in the game. A8 takes the snap and fakes spiking the ball to the ground. He then runs for a TD. Ruling?

4. Defensive tackle B73 is head-up on offensive right guard A63. B73 jumps into the neutral zone without making contact and then left tackle A79 immediately lifts his hand from the ground. Ruling?

5. Snapper A50 puts his hand on the ball after the ready for play. He then rises and removes his hand from the ball to speak to the QB. Ruling?