hiting the center

[kbjoe1]

can the center be hit by defensive player at the time of the snap?

the guard fires off the line chops the defensive lineman, the center drives his man over the other two players the ref called a hi lo personal foul is this a correct call?

 

[fencewire]

So, we have 3 points...

1) can the center be hit at the time of the snap.... yes and no...

From the UIL sixman exceptions...

(9-1-14) 18. When a team is in an offensive or scrimmage kick formation, and no player is in position to take a hand to hand snap, a defensive player may not initiate contact with the snapper until one second has elapsed after the snap.

So, if the QB is under center, yes, but if the QB is in a shotgun / punt formation then no, not until one second has elapsed..

2) the guard fires off the line chops the defensive lineman.

Semantics in this game is a big part of how we as officials discuss plays and due to definitions in the rule book this can cause confusion between coaches and officials (yeah we need more confusion).

To an official, a "chop" is a high low combination block.... you, I believe, are referring to a cut block, or simply a block below the waist. If you tell an official that "they are chopping us" official says OK, I'll watch... then all he sees is low blocks... that is perfectly legal (read the last post in this thread.

3) the center drives his man over the other two players the ref called a hi lo personal foul is this a correct call?

Technically, no... however, if the official only saw part of the play it definitely could be called. So if the official sees the block late, all he is going to see is a guy low, and a guy high on a defender, and you can certainly see how he can make the mistake and call a chop block, because we are taught to err on the side of safety, but we are also taught to see the whole play.

 

[kbjoe1]

thanks i understand now,, is it considered a personal foul or does it just come with a 15 yard penalty

2i wonder if it should not be like the facemask one 5 yard and the other 15
or may be it would be better for all facemask to be 15 just wondering you thoughts
i do know that you'll are here to enforce the rules not make them but you'll on the field too and UIL is not

 

[fencewire]

It is a personal foul... and would be announced as ... "Personal Foul, chop block", chop blocks can occur anywhere on the field by either team... odd to see a defensive team commit a chop block, and it is rare, but it does happen occasionally...

There are no 5 yard facemasks any longer and haven't been for, IIRC, 5 years now?

this is the text of the rulebook regarding facemask

No player shall grasp and then twist, turn or pull the face mask, chin strap or any helmet opening of an opponent. It is not a foul if the face mask, chin strap or helmet opening is not grasped and then twisted, turned or pulled.

When in question, it is a foul.

So in effect the only facemask penalty that can be incurred now is of the 15 yard variety. It is much better this way, 5 yards for simply touching the facemask was a little over the top for something that really did nothing, same can be said about the blocks below the waist, it would be much better if the NCAA would just eliminate them altogether other than those right at the line of scrimmage and it would be much easier to officiate.