2008 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations
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2008 NCAA ® FOOTBALL | RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS | RULES The NCAA salutes the more than 380,000 student-athletes participating in 23 sports at more than1,000 member institutions NCAA 66273-6/08 FR 08 2008 NCAA® FOOTBALL RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION [ISSN 0736-5144] THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION P.O. BOX 6222 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 46206-6222 317/917-6222 WWW.NCAA.ORG MAY 2008 Manuscript Prepared By: Rogers Redding, Secretary-Rules Editor, NCAA Football Rules Committee. Edited By: Ty Halpin, Associate Director for Playing Rules Administration. NCAA, NCAA logo and NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION are registered marks of the Association and use in any manner is prohibited unless prior approval is obtained from the Association. COPYRIGHT, 1974, BY THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION REPPRINTED: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Contents page NCAA Football Rules Committee ................................................................FR-4 Committee Action for 2008 ..........................................................................FR-6 Index to Editorial Changes............................................................................FR-7 Points of Emphasis ........................................................................................FR-9 The Football Code .......................................................................................FR-13 Official NCAA Football Rules....................................................................FR-16 Diagram of Field .........................................................................................FR-18 Field Diagram Details .................................................................................FR-19 Rule 1—The Game, Field, Players and Equipment ...............................FR-20 Rule 2—Definitions ................................................................................FR-40 Rule 3—Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions .................................FR-61 Rule 4—Ball in Play, Dead Ball, Out of Bounds ..................................FR-78 Rule 5—Series of Downs, Line to Gain.................................................FR-82 Rule 6—Kicks .........................................................................................FR-86 Rule 7—Snapping and Passing the Ball .................................................FR-94 Rule 8—Scoring ....................................................................................FR-107 Rule 9—Conduct of Players and Others Subject to Rules ..................FR-115 Rule 10—Penalty Enforcement ............................................................FR-132 Rule 11—The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties .................................FR-138 Rule 12—Instant Replay .......................................................................FR-144 Summary of Penalties ...........................................................................FR-150 Code of Officials’ Signals .........................................................................FR-155 Appendix A—Guidelines for Serious On-Field Injury ............................FR-157 Appendix B—Lightning Guidelines .........................................................FR-158 Official NCAA Football Rules Interpretations ..............................................FI-1 Index to Interpretation Changes .....................................................................FI-2 Index to Interpretations ................................................................................FI-98 Index to Rules ............................................................................................. IND-1 FR-3 NCAA Football Rules Committee Chair Gil Cloud Mike Bellotti Division II Division I (FBS) Upper Iowa University of Oregon University Eugene, Oregon Fayette, Iowa 52142 97403 Term expires Term expires 9-1-10* 9-1-09* Secretary-Rules Randy Edsall Editor Division I (FBS) Rogers Redding University of Division I (FBS) Connecticut Southeastern Storrs, Connecticut Conference 06269 Birmingham, Term expires Alabama 35203 9-1-11* Frank Carr Chris Hatcher Division III Division I (FCS) Earlham College, Georgia Southern Richmond, Indiana University 47374 Statesboro, Georgia Term expires 9-1-10* 30460 Term expires 9-1-11* * Not eligible for re-election. FR-4 NCAA FOOTBALL RULES COMMITTEE FR-5 Todd Knight Tony Samuel Division II Division I (FCS) Ouachita Baptist Southeast Missouri University State University Arkadelphia, Cape Girardeau, Arkansas 71998 Missouri 63701 Term expires Term expires 9-1-11* 9-1-09 Ron Prince Ky Snyder Division I (FBS) Division I (FCS) Ron Prince University of San Kansas State Diego University San Diego, Manhattan, Kansas California 92110 66502 Term expires Term expires 9-1-10* 9-1-09* Rocky Rees Division II Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Shippensburg, Pennsylvania 17257 Term expires 9-1-10* Note: Two Division III representatives were not named in time for inclusion in the rules book. * Not eligible for re-election. Committee Action for 2008 The numbers and letters in the left column refer to rule, section and article, respectively. Changed or altered items are identified in the rules by a shaded background, unless the change results in the deletion of the entire segment containing the change. MAJOR RULES CHANGES 1-4-9-d, 11-2-1-d ..................Referee microphone mandatory in 2010 ...........FR-38, 139 1-4-9-g ..................................Recording opponent’s signals prohibited .................. FR-38 2-2-4, 2-29-2, 3-2-4, 4-1-5 ...40/25-second play clock system instituted ............... FR-41, 58, 67, 80 2-3-3 ......................................Chop block redefined ................................................. FR-43 3-2-2-h (deleted) ...................15-second play clock eliminated ............................... FR-67 3-2-2-i (deleted) ....................Clock adjustment on inadvertent whistle .................. FR-67 3-2-5-a-12 .............................Game clock starts when ball is ready for play after ball carrier goes out of bounds .................... FR-69 6-2-1 ......................................Kickoff out of bounds: option to snap at 40-yard line ........................................................... FR-88 9-1-2-p ..................................Horse-collar tackle prohibited .................................. FR-118 9-1-2-q ..................................Five-yard facemask foul eliminated ....................... FR-118 9-1-3 ......................................Helmet contact/targeting an opponent rule redefined ...................................................... FR-119 9-1-6 ......................................Sideline warning changed to sideline interference foul .................................................. FR-121 12-3-1-a.................................Field goals included in reviewable scoring plays ... FR-144 12-3-3-b ................................If runner ruled down, immediate fumble recovery is reviewable ........................................ FR-145 12-3-3-c.................................If runner ruled out of bounds, immediate score is reviewable .............................................. FR-146 12-3-4 ....................................Replay official may correct egregious errors .......... FR-146 12-5-1-b-1 .............................Successful coach’s challenge extended to maximum of two per game ............................ FR-147 FR-6 Index to Editorial Changes The following are editorial changes to the playing rules. Although the editorial changes are not shaded, they are very important in rule interpretation. EDITORIAL CHANGES 1-2-4-a 3-4-2-a, b-6, 7, Pen. 1-4-6-b 3-4-3 1-4-9-d 3-5-2-c, e, Pen. 2-2-4 4-1-1 2-6-1 4-1-3-a, b, o, q 2-8-2 4-1-4 2-9-1 4-1-5 2-13-1 4-2-4-a 2-15-5-b 5-1-3-c 2-15-9 5-2-3 2-15-10-b 5-2-4-Exc. 2-19-2-b 5-2-7 2-19-3-b 6-1-2 2-27-1 6-1-3-a, b, c, d 2-27-6-c 6-1-8 2-27-7 6-2-1-Pen. 2-29-2 6-3-13 2-30-3-a, b, c 6-4-1-a 3-1-3-g-1, 2, 3 6-5-1-a, b, c, d, e 3-2-1-b 7-1-3-b-Pen. 3-2-2-d, e, f, g 7-1-4-b-Pen. 3-2-5-a, b, c, e 7-2-4-b 3-2-5-a-1, 11, 12, 13 7-3-2-a 3-3-2-a-11, 18, 19 7-3-2-f-Exc. 3-3-3-c 7-3-7-a, c: Exc. 3-3-8-b-1 8-2-1-f FR-7 FR-8 INDEX TO EDITORIAL CHANGES 8-3-3-a, b-1, c-3, d-1, 2 and f 9-3-4-b, c, d: Pen. 8-3-4-a, c 9-3-4-e and Pen. 8-3-5 9-3-5-b-1 8-5-1-a, b 9-3-6 and Pen. 9-1-2-d-Exc. 1-c 9-4-1, 2, 3, 4: Pen. 9-1-2-l, m, n, o, p, q and Pen. 9-5-1-a, b: Pen. 9-1-4-a-1, 2 and 5, b 10-1-4-Exc. 1 9-1-5-a and Pen., b 10-1-5 9-2-1-a-1 and Pen. 10-1-6 9-2-1-b-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 10-1-7 9-2-2-d-Pen. 10-2-2-b, c-1, 2, 3, d, e and Exc. 4 and 5 9-2-4-Pen. 10-2-2-g-1-a and b-2, 3, 5 9-3-1-Exc. 10-2-2-h 9-3-2-Pen. 11-2-1-c 9-3-3-a, b, c, d: Pen. 11-8-1-a 12-3-2-b 12-6-1-d Points of Emphasis The NCAA Football Rules Committee has extraordinary pride in the Football Code, which was introduced in 1916 and has been updated several times. These guidelines form a harmony of agreement between coaches, players, game officials and administrators that places each contest in an environment of fairness and sportsmanship. It is noted that the Code emphasizes the following unethical practices: “Using the helmet as a weapon. The helmet is for protection of the player...” and “players and coaches should emphasize the elimination of spearing.” Every participant