The college game on Oct 11 pitted a top twenty ranked team against a team who hasn't seen the rankings in years.
From a game management point many of the same old problems persisted. Scrambling for a chain crew, the 25-second play clock was not working, and the clock operator was terrible. On top of that, the new stadium lights are not installed, so they were using portable lighting. It made for a swell time.
We only threw eight fouls all game, so this was pretty dull. I was run into several times by linebackers. The running backs were very adept at using me as a shield. I often get scolded by the players running into me. I frequently hear, "you gotsta get out of my way". To which I reply, "you can see me but I don't see you, so deal with it". They don't really like it when I say that.
I saw several potential holding situations, but the defender was never really struggling to get away. One of the criteria we use to call holding is whether the player being 'held' is being put at a disadvantage. Often a guy is being held, but he is not fighting it. If he is not fighting it, how is he being put at a disadvantage?
As I hinted last post we had a female official on the crew. I had never worked with her before, but she has a reputation for not being a good official. My opinion was she understood the basic mechanics of her position, but does not have a full understanding of the rules. Overall, she did alright, but was not doing a great job on the whistle. We never could hear her blow the damn thing.
I did not have a college game on Oct 18th, but had two high school games the night before. A short post on that 55-7 blowout next time.
