# College Football Rules Question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [October 18, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185 "2009-10-18T01:04:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185/1 "2009-10-18T01:04:08Z")

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2nd and 8, ball on the defender’s 35. Shotgun formation, ball snaps, QB drops back, Looks for the WR screen, throws the ball (laterally or behind) way off target and nails the opposing team’s head coach smack in the face. The head coach (let’s call him “Pete”) has decided to ignore the rules of the game and is standing 15 yards from the sidelines in the middle of the field.

Is the ball live or dead? The coach is not part of the field (like a ref), so it’s not automatically a live ball. Is the ref forced to call a penalty on the coach for being on the field of play? What’s the ruling?

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**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185/2 "2009-10-18T03:30:08Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Illegal Interference  
> ARTICLE 5. a. No substitute, coach, authorized attendant or any person  
> subject to the rules, other than a player or official, may interfere in any way  
> with the ball, a player or an official while the ball is in play.  
> PENALTY—15 yards from the basic spot. The referee may enforce any  
> penalty he considers equitable, including awarding a score  
> [S27].

The ref shouldn’t blow the play dead. The play should continue to its natural resolution and then a 15 year penalty assessed against the defense from the end of the play. If, for example, the defense picked the ball up and ran it back for the touchdown, the ref can negate that and penalize the defense as appropriate.

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**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185/3 "2009-10-18T03:52:13Z")

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> [@treis](#):
>
> 15 year penalty

Wow, that seems awfully harsh :eek:

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**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185/4 "2009-10-18T16:27:44Z")

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> [@TheBoltEater](#):
>
> Wow, that seems awfully harsh :eek:

I think that’s what Detroit is serving right now. 😃

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**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-rules-question/514185/5 "2009-10-18T16:42:36Z")

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> [@DSYoungEsq](#):
>
> I think that’s what Detroit is serving right now. 😃

I hadn’t realized that the Lions played college football, but I guess it would explain a few things…