Two yards can cost you seven points. That’s a harsh lesson the Arizona Wildcats learned last week.
On the first play from scrimmage at Washington State, UA quarterback Brandon Dawkins threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Nate Phillips. If the play had counted, it would have marked the second time this season the Wildcats had scored on the game’s opening play.
It didn’t count, however. The reason: Arizona guard Christian Boettcher was ruled to have been too far downfield.
Generally speaking, five receivers are eligible to run routes and catch passes on any given football play. The other five — the offensive linemen — have restrictions on pass plays. Rule 7, Article 10 from the NCAA football rulebook states the following about ineligible receivers downfield:
“No originally ineligible receiver shall be or have been more than three yards beyond the neutral zone until a legal forward pass that crosses the neutral zone has been thrown.”
The penalty: 5 yards from the previous spot.
Boettcher was a full 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Although his presence there had no impact on the play, it violated the rule, which was put in place to keep things fair for defenses.
It became a point of emphasis this season because so many college teams run RPO plays — run-pass option. Arizona is one of those teams. Linemen can go as far downfield as they want on running plays.
“We make a call so they know not to be down there,” Rodriguez said. “In defense of what happened, (Boettcher) got bumped 2 yards beyond and he didn’t back up right away.
“We do it every day, numerous times in every game. It’s part of what we do.”
Rodriguez’s advice on how to avoid those penalties?
“Don’t get bumped past 3 yards,” he said. “And if you do, back up faster.”
