[Husker] penalties in the red zone

[George Rapp]

On 1/15/06, C Jolly <jocar26 at cox.net> wrote:
>
> I have a question about the rules in football brought on by watching the
> Colts vs the Steelers.
>
> The Colts had the ball 3rd and goal on the 1 yard line (or
> thereabouts).  An offensive lineman moved and the ball
> was moved back 5 yards.  So far so good.  Then a Steelers player was
> called for encroachment.  Instead of moving the
> ball back to the 1 (a 5 yard penalty), they moved it halfway to the
> goal.  I always thought that a penalty that would cause
> the ball across the goal line either way was moved halfway to the goal
> line.  If the penalty doesn't move the ball across the
> goal line then the full penalty is inacted.


That's the misunderstanding ... at least in the 2003 NCAA rulebook, the
standard says:

    ARTICLE 3. No distance penalty, including tries from on or inside the
    three-yard line, shall exceed half the distance from the enforcement
spot to
    the offending team's goal line [Exceptions: (1) Scrimmage downs, other
    than tries, under Rule 7-3-8 Penalty for Team B interference; and (2) on
    tries, defensive pass interference when the ball is snapped from outside
the
    three-yard line].

(7-3-8 is defensive pass interference inside the 2 yard line or in the end
zone, when the ball is placed at the 2 and an automatic first down is
awarded.)

So, in your example, the ball was at the 6 after the false start, but would
only be moved halfway to the 3 after the offsides.  Whether or not the
penalty would put the ball over the goal line is a standard that the rules
don't appear to support.

Disclaimer: IANAZ (I Am Not A Zebra ... 8^)

George
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