It's Matt Loeffler's crew who'll end up calling games for all 14 SEC teams this seasonāhopefully for at least two of our games.
This season, the ACC and the SEC will follow in the footsteps of the heavily up-tempo Big 12 by experimenting with an eighth official. Like the Big 12, the ACC and SEC will place the eighth official opposite the referee in the offensive backfield. This new official, called the center judge, will spot the ball and allow the umpire -- who lines up near the linebackers and who sets the ball on a seven-man crew -- to pay more attention to the action on the line of scrimmage. The Big 12 experiment used an official floating between crews. In the SEC, referee Matt Loeffler's crew will get the eighth official, and that crew will work games involving all 14 teams during the 2014 season.
SEC coaches are happy for the extra set of eyes. Muschamp remembers playing Oklahoma while running the Texas defense and watching officials struggle to match the pace of top-fuel coordinator Kevin Wilson, who ran the Sooners' offense at the time.
"The ball was snapped three or four times and there were three and four people moving," Muschamp said. "And one time the linesman was jogging out to me with his back to the ball, and the ball was being snapped. Is that really what we want? I think all we want is a good administration of the game."
Shaw admits that in addition to the tempo, the increase in four- and five-receiver formations puts pressure on the referee and the umpire by taking the other five officials down the field.
"If those five guys are out, every one of those officials is occupied," Shaw said. "What you've got is a referee and an umpire taking care of the rest of the game."
That pressure can be relieved by the addition of a center judge. If the experiment works, Shaw believes every FBS league will add an eighth official in the next few years.
The officials can control the pace of the game more effectively and take away some of the inherent offensive advantage by enforcing the existing rules. One complaint from defensive coaches involves the rule stating ineligible players can't be more than three yards beyond the line of scrimmage when a past-the-line-of-scrimmage forward pass is thrown. Officials rarely flag teams for having ineligible receivers downfield, but one offensive trend has given them the opportunity to call it more often. Offensive coordinators have added more run-pass packages -- plays that give the quarterback a choice to run or pass but only instruct the linemen to block the play as a run. In many up-tempo offenses, the linemen fire off the ball as they would on a run play, even though the quarterback intends to throw downfield.
It would be terribly easy in this situation for a guard, assigned to block a linebacker, to venture four or five yards past the line of scrimmage, which happens relatively often. The penalty rarely gets called, and if it did, offenses would have to adjust their play calls to ensure they didn't get penalized. Linemen would have to get a protection call from the sideline to use in case the quarterback decided to throw. The quarterback would need a code he could communicate to the linemen to let them know whether to block for a behind-the-line-of-scrimmage exchange or a beyond-the-line-of-scrimmage exchange. That might add only two seconds to the process, but it would make a difference for the defense and the offense. Plus, the officials would be enforcing a rule already on the books -- which is their job. Unfortunately, to call such situations properly, it might take a ninth official standing on the sideline three yards beyond the line of scrimmage and staying there until the ball is released.
Meanwhile, the up-tempo offenses have changed the way the one off-the-field official operates. The on-field zebras used to gig their replay counterparts because they got to spend their Saturdays in catered, air-conditioned press boxes. Now, there are days when they wouldn't dare trade jobs.
SI's Andy Staples discusses a few more aspects of the HUNH offenses here...
This season, the ACC and the SEC will follow in the footsteps of the heavily up-tempo Big 12 by experimenting with an eighth official. Like the Big 12, the ACC and SEC will place the eighth official opposite the referee in the offensive backfield. This new official, called the center judge, will spot the ball and allow the umpire -- who lines up near the linebackers and who sets the ball on a seven-man crew -- to pay more attention to the action on the line of scrimmage. The Big 12 experiment used an official floating between crews. In the SEC, referee Matt Loeffler's crew will get the eighth official, and that crew will work games involving all 14 teams during the 2014 season.
SEC coaches are happy for the extra set of eyes. Muschamp remembers playing Oklahoma while running the Texas defense and watching officials struggle to match the pace of top-fuel coordinator Kevin Wilson, who ran the Sooners' offense at the time.
"The ball was snapped three or four times and there were three and four people moving," Muschamp said. "And one time the linesman was jogging out to me with his back to the ball, and the ball was being snapped. Is that really what we want? I think all we want is a good administration of the game."
Shaw admits that in addition to the tempo, the increase in four- and five-receiver formations puts pressure on the referee and the umpire by taking the other five officials down the field.
"If those five guys are out, every one of those officials is occupied," Shaw said. "What you've got is a referee and an umpire taking care of the rest of the game."
That pressure can be relieved by the addition of a center judge. If the experiment works, Shaw believes every FBS league will add an eighth official in the next few years.
The officials can control the pace of the game more effectively and take away some of the inherent offensive advantage by enforcing the existing rules. One complaint from defensive coaches involves the rule stating ineligible players can't be more than three yards beyond the line of scrimmage when a past-the-line-of-scrimmage forward pass is thrown. Officials rarely flag teams for having ineligible receivers downfield, but one offensive trend has given them the opportunity to call it more often. Offensive coordinators have added more run-pass packages -- plays that give the quarterback a choice to run or pass but only instruct the linemen to block the play as a run. In many up-tempo offenses, the linemen fire off the ball as they would on a run play, even though the quarterback intends to throw downfield.
It would be terribly easy in this situation for a guard, assigned to block a linebacker, to venture four or five yards past the line of scrimmage, which happens relatively often. The penalty rarely gets called, and if it did, offenses would have to adjust their play calls to ensure they didn't get penalized. Linemen would have to get a protection call from the sideline to use in case the quarterback decided to throw. The quarterback would need a code he could communicate to the linemen to let them know whether to block for a behind-the-line-of-scrimmage exchange or a beyond-the-line-of-scrimmage exchange. That might add only two seconds to the process, but it would make a difference for the defense and the offense. Plus, the officials would be enforcing a rule already on the books -- which is their job. Unfortunately, to call such situations properly, it might take a ninth official standing on the sideline three yards beyond the line of scrimmage and staying there until the ball is released.
Meanwhile, the up-tempo offenses have changed the way the one off-the-field official operates. The on-field zebras used to gig their replay counterparts because they got to spend their Saturdays in catered, air-conditioned press boxes. Now, there are days when they wouldn't dare trade jobs.
SI's Andy Staples discusses a few more aspects of the HUNH offenses here...
