The Official Missed That?

Comments are made many a time towards officials and in reports that certain calls were missed. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not worthy of a call by the judgment of the official.

Some calls are missed just by having players standing in the line of vision of an official. An official may hear something happen but not have the actual vision of what occurred.

There has been much discussion about holding calls and officials not seeing it. As with other NCAA officials in the USA we have a set of standards and philosophies to work to when looking at holding calls. One of these is looking at the POA (Point of Attack.) This is critical as we could call holding on every play yet 90% of these wouldn't be affecting the play in the direction of the ball carrier. One player mentioned that he was held so badly that he couldn't chase the ball carrier yet the hold was 10 yards away. How could that actually affect the play? The only way it could is if the ball carrier cut back and created a POA closer to where the holding was occurring.

Another may be where a ball carrier runs past an opponent and the opponent turns to chase the ball carrier but is legged and held by his lower leg. His team mates tackle the ball carrier a yard or 2 further on. Technically a hold but it had no affect on the play as the POA had already passed the would be tackler. He had his opportunity to bring the ball carrier to the ground but missed it. Just because he is then held after the fact should not bring him a 'freebie' 10 yard penalty because he missed a tackle and then was held.

Another situation may be right at the POA where a hold occurs inside the frame of the body holding the jersey of the opponent. The opponent holds his arms out to show he is being held 'Aussie Rules' style. By this very action the player has shown he has given up and is no longer fighting to get to the ball carrier. In fact by this time he is probably being pushed back and his opponent has won his position on the field allowing the ball carrier to pass right by him. This can occur in crucial plays and end up allowing the ball carrier to score a touchdown.

In these situations are the players being held challenging an officials judgment which is final? I appreciate that players wish to bring situations to the attention of the officials and many of you do this in a polite manner such as 'Sir please watch the holding.' But if the official says that he saw the hold and it had no bearing on the play then the reasons may be that you just weren't at the POA and it had no bearing on the play whatsoever or you actually gave into the hold and no longer fought for your position on the field.

I hope that brings some understanding about how the official judges the call for holding.

Grant Martin