See link above. Interesting observations by Landon on the 3rd and 10 when Penn State had the ball and the in-between moments from 1st and 10 to 2nd and 17 on Indiana's final drive. In reference to the latter, a timeout might have been the move when it's obvious what they were trying to pull off pre-snap fooled absolutely nobody. Can't have 13 personnel on the field on 3rd and 10 with the two-minute warning offering you the freedom to sling the ball past the marker...especially the one game where a WR (Pena) was actually doing something. Frustrating.
At the 2:41 mark in the video, the Indiana player (#5) clearly makes contact with the official and pushes off. It appears that the push-off enables #5 to catch and tackle the runner (#10). It also appears that the push-off interferes with the official's ability to perform his duties.
According to Rule #9 of the 2005 NCAA Football Rule Book, "Physical interference with an official is a foul for unsportsmanlike conduct
charged to the team unless the individual can be readily identified (A R 9-2-5-I)". But hey, when the officials won't enforce uniform violations, which are clearly depicted in the rule book, how can it be expected that they will fairly adjudicate and administer the more nuanced rules? A screenshot from the rule book is below.
Maybe some of the "more nuanced" rules, such as holding and pass interference, should be removed from the rule book. And perhaps the "declination of a penalty" rule should be rewritten so that teams actually get what they earned. If an offense commits a penalty, they should not get to replay the down. They should get a yardage penalty and the game should proceed to the next down. There should be no "do-overs" unless there are offsetting penalties.
