Too Much Yellow Laundry: Calling a Personal Foul on College Football

It started as a couple rules to protect the student athletes of NCAA football.

Then they expanded it to make the game more fair, and we got holding, block-in-the-back, and pass interference penalties added in.

Then they decided that sportsmanship was also important, so they added in personal fouls and intentional roughness.

After that, the heads of College Football realized that the game had to move along smoothly without any early starts or long breaks of action, so false starts and delay of games and offsides and neutral zone infractions all came in. And for some other reason, you can't throw the ball away unless you're outside the pocket now, too.

And then, finally, the must have just decided that anything counted as a foul.

And now, it's just gone too far.

College Football has become more and more like NBA basketball, where every other play is stopped short or resulting in a foul.

You can't throw in a few words during a key receiver-cornerback battle during a rivalry game, you can't take too long to start the play but you have to make sure everyone knows the snap count and there are exactly so many people on the line and in the backfield in 40 seconds or less.

There's no touching the face or helmet or your blocker. It is a foul if you twitch because of the fly before the play is snapped, and there's no chance you can get away with even touching the kicker or punter without a roughing call.

Now I know that this won't happen, because every foul has a reason and it may very well make the game more just the tiniest bit more fair, but the NCAA needs to re-examine and sort through their pages and pages of illegal infractions.

We need to make this football again. Sure, you can keep it so you have limited time to snap the ball, or you can't just barrel down the wide receiver or tight end just before the pass arrives, or any other clearly unfair penalties. But we just don't need a foul every three or four plays.

It's gotten to the point where its uncommon to not see a flag on a punt return, or a little scuffle after some questionable play.

Simply put, things have gone too far. And we need to turn this into a rough, hard-fought, battle-it-out sport again. Because that's what football is, and that's why we all love it.

So, I decided it might be time for me to go through the lengthy list of common fouls, and evaluate if they really deserve to be there, and what kind of foul it should be (fouls will be listed in alphabetical order and include definitions).

Block in the Back

Definition: Blocking a non-ball carrying player from behind. Ten yard penalty.

Examination: Why do we need this? Players should be alert, and they should be able to know where the blockers are coming from and what players they need to watch for. Because, isn't that called awareness?

Verdict: Trash it.

Blocking Below the Waist

Definition: The name is pretty descriptive. Fifteen yard penalty.

Examination: Like above, players should be aware and know where this is coming from. Sure you might get a little elbow in the crotch or a busted knee, but this isn't worth 15 yards.

Verdict: Reduce to five yards.

Clipping

Definition: The combination of "below-the-waist" and "from behind." Fifteen yards, automatic first down.

Examination: Not much more to say about this, but this is one foul that they might have a point with.

Verdict: Reduce to 10 yards.

Delay of Game

Definition: Exceeding the 40-second play clock while on offense. Or kicking the ball after the play, etc. Five yard penalty.

Examination: I don't have a problem with the play clock, because the game does need to retain a certain speed. I do have a problem with the fact that the illegal formations are so specific and you only have two-thirds of a minute to deal with it, but we'll get to that later.

Verdict: It's fine the way it is with the play clock. But I'm not sure if the kicking part is really worth five yards.

Encroachment/Offsides/Neutral Zone Infraction (Defense)

Definition: All different forms of lining up too close, on top of, or past the offense's line of scrimmage. Five yard penalty.

Examination: They have a point: you can't cheat and get too close to the ball. But the fact that you can't even line up all the way at the line of scrimmage is a pretty weak argument. They have a right to be there.

Verdict: Trash offsides, keep the other two but just call them offsides instead.

Facemask/Illegal Hands to the Face

Definition: Grasping and holding on to the facemask on the helmet of a player for at least a second or two, or getting your hands under the facemask on their face or any period of time.  Five yards to brief facemask, 10 yards for hands to the face, 15 for longer facemask.

Examination: I'm okay with the facemask, it is a cheap and often dangerous way to tackle a player. But 15 yards is too much for the severe ones.

Verdict: Everything is just five yards related to these penalties.

False Start/ Illegal Motion/Illegal Shift

Definition: A lineman moving as if the play has started prior to the snap, or if there are two or more non-lineman moving at the same time. Five yard penalty.

Examination: They have a point. But I think it should be allowed to let go unless the defense reacts.

Verdict: It's worth a whistle if some players start early, but the offense is just forced to line up again on a 20-second play clock with the game clock stopped.

Illegal Formation/ Too Many Men/Ineligible Receiver Downfield

Definition: Less than four players in the backfield, more than five receivers lined up, or if the eligible receivers do not line up on the farthest rightmost and leftmost positions, more than the allowed 11 players on the field, or a lineman or quarterback downfield as a receiver. Five yard penalty.

Examination: I don't understand the need for this. Teams should be able to line-up their players where they want and run a play. The no-more-than-five receivers rule is worthy, and of course keep the 11 players rule, but I think it's fine if only the QB is the backfield or something.

Verdict: Five yards for six or more WRs or too many men, trash the rest.

Illegal Forward Pass

Definition: Only one forward pass is allowed per down. Five yards from spot of foul, loss of down.

Examination: I don't have any objection to this.

Verdict: Keep it the same.

Intentional Grounding

Definition: The quarterback throws the ball away, clearly not intended for a receiver, while he is either still in the pocket (inside the tackles) or he does not throw the ball past the line of scrimmage. Counts as a sack.

Examination: I'm fine either way, but they need to either call it that every ball thrown away is intentional grounding or just do away with the foul completely.

Verdict: See above.

Pass Interference

Definition: Either the wide receiver or the defensive player covering him pushes or makes contact with the other before the ball arrives in the pass. Fifteen yards, usually.

Examination: The concept is perfectly fine, otherwise it does make it very unfair. But they need to let up quite a bit on this call, it should be cut in half in terms of times called per game.

Verdict: Make it 10 yards, and let them tussle a bit without a foul if possible.

Roughing/Running in to the Kicker/Punter/Passer

Definition: Hitting the kicker or punter or passer (QB) after they have either kicked or thrown the ball. Fifteen yards, automatic first down.

Examination: Once again, the concept is good, but it is called way, way, way too much. It should be cut down so that only if it is a clear intentional tackle several seconds after the ball has left their possession. Just let them play, refs.

Verdict: Make it five to 10 yards, depending on severity, and no automatic first down. And, like I said above, reduce its occurrence greatly.

Tripping

Definition: Everyone knows what tripping is, I hope. Fifteen yards, automatic first down.

Examination: Yeah, tripping might be a fairly cheap shot, and it is not not over-called like some of these other penalties. But it's definition not worth 15 yards at all.

Verdict: Reduce to five yards.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Excessive Celebration

Definition: Celebrating after a big play using mockery, cockiness, or taking up too much time. Fifteen yard penalty, if after a touchdown, opposing team selects whether they would like to enforce it on the PAT or on the ensuing kickoff.

Examination: Let them celebrate. It's fun. If they take more than 90 seconds without any motion of returning to the play or sidelines, or use racist or inappropriate content, then it's a viable foul.

Verdict: Like I said above, loosen the definition but keep the foul.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Inappropriate Language, Fighting, Roughing the Referee

Definition: Using expletive language, fighting, or messing with or attempting to injure to dispute with the official. Like above. Fifteen yard penalty.

Examination: I like the sound of that..."Roughing the Referee"...Oh, yeah, it's the examination section. I think this foul is good to go, but it is a physical sport, and little shoving should be fine.

Verdict: Make it 10 yards, allowing some small scuffling.

So, that's my take on how the excessive-ness of penalties in college football should be dealt with. What's your take? Is it fine the way it is? Should there be more fouls added? Do you agree with me that it's way to much to handle?