In a recent game a team was warned by an official that you could not cut block on the line of scrimmage if your QB was in shot gun. I have looked through rule book and don't see that any where. The only thing i see is that the cut has to be the initial movment off of the ball. Anyone know where he got somthing crazy like that?

I believe that's been discussed ad nauseum on previous threads.

http://www.bluegrasspreps.com/showthread.php?t=100350&highlight=blocking+waist

I've got another question. I was at a JV game (in Ohio) and saw the following. 4th down. QB throws a completion in the endzone. Ref calls offensive pass interference (which I thought was a bad call, but that's not the question.) If the defense accepts the penalty, doesn't it get marked off from the LOS and 4th down is replayed?

 

In this game, the defense got the ball at the original LOS.

OPI is 15 yards and a loss of down. So, in your play 15 yards and give the defense the ball. Pretty severe dont you think? More severe than a personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

I don't know if Ohio has an experimental rule for OPI, but I don't think they do.

http://www.bluegrasspreps.com/showthread.php?t=100350&highlight=blocking+waist

That link is about the literal rule and really, this thread needs a bit more explaining. Unless the block by a person on the line of scrimmage against a defensive player who can be blocked below the waist by rule is initiated while the ball is in the free blocking zone (in other words, the block has to start between the time of the snap and the time the ball has traveled 3 yards toward the quarterback), then it cannot be below the waist. The start of the block below the waist almost has to be instantaneous with the snap to be legal. One of the things you sacrifice with the shotgun is blocking below the waist with any delay at all.

The warning was that any other time it would have been a legal block below the waist except when in shotgun. I can't find that rule anywhere.

OPI is 15 yards and a loss of down. So, in your play 15 yards and give the defense the ball. Pretty severe dont you think? More severe than a personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

I don't know if Ohio has an experimental rule for OPI, but I don't think they do.

Thanks. Didn't know about the loss of down. That is terribly severe. I could have gotten the ball placement wrong after the penalty.

I have a customer in Orlando who told me this story this morning. His son plays is a youth football league (5th & 6th graders) in the central Florida area. Team A is losing by 6 points, less than 3 minutes to play in the game and they are facing a 4th and 40 because of penalties and a QB sack. Team A lines up with 3 in the backfield. When the QB takes the snap he purposely hands the ball to a team B player. The 3 players in the backfield surround the team B player with the ball and strip it away and recover the fumble. So it should be first and 10 team A because of the change of possession. The refs huddle for a while and they call an unsportsmanlike penalty against team A. Team B then runs out the clock and wins the game. Now, I believe that this is a “bush” league play but is it against the rules?