FootballScrimmage.com

Introduction to American College Football Rules
Editted by Elizabeth Lemke

American football developed from the English game of rugby. Unlike soccer, in American football, the foot rarely touches the ball. The game of soccer iswidely known around the world as football.

The American footoball field is 100 yards long and 160 feet wide. The middle of the field is known as the 50 yard line. The lines are labeled every 10 yards, descending in both directions from the 50 yard line. Thus, there are two 40 yard lines.. Each team owns half of the field, andthey switch sides every 15 minutes of play. Therefore , the two 40 yard lines are distinguished by who owns them. The “zero yard line” is called the goal line. The areas known as the end zones, are on either side of those 100 yards and extend 10 yards past the goal lines.. Both teams attempt to get the ball past the opponent’s goal line into the end zone to score a touchdown. The goal posts, which look like a big letter H, are located at the far edge of each end zone. . They are only used when a team decides to kick a field goal or extra point after scoring a touchdown. To score the field goal or extra point, the ball must go between the vertical posts and over the bar.

In the other direction, the field is divided by hash marks into three parts; left, center and right, which are 60 feet from each side line. Normally, each new play begins where the ball landed at the end of the previous play. However, if the ball ends up outside of the center of the field, it is brought back to the nearest hash mark. Therefore, new plays never start at the extreme sides of the field. The area to either side of the field is called out-of-bounds.

Kickoffs: At the start of the game, a coin is tossed to determine which team gets the ball first. The team that has possession of the ball is the offense, and the other team is known as the defense. A football game is played for approximately one hour in length; however, it can take about three hours because the clock is often stopped for various reasons during the course of the game. The game is divided into 15-minute quarters along with a major division at 30 minutes known as half time. At the end of the first and third quarters, the players merely switch sides. The ball is then moved to the corresponding point on the other side of the field to continue the play. The purpose of switching sides allows for each team to experience the advantage or disadvantage as a result of the position of the sun or wind. The players leave the field for 20 minutes at half-time. The second half of the game does not continue where it ended at the close of the first half. Instead, the team that initially lost the coin toss, has possession of the ball first following another kickoff.

At the start of each half, and after each touchdown or field goal,(when it’s time to give the other team the football), the defending team places the ball on a tee at their own 35 yard line, and kicks the ball toward the other team. This is known as a kickoff. A member of the other team tries to catch the ball and then runs downs the field toward their goal line. . If the player catching the ball determines he cannot run it back, , he raises his hand and asks for a fair catch. In a fair catch, the defending team may not tackle him and he may not run with the ball. A touchback is when the ball is kicked into the end zone, and no one catches it, or the player who catches the ball does not run with it. As a result, the first play starts at the offense’s 20 yard line. Unlike a touchdown, a touchback does not score any points.

Downs: The offense has 4 plays or downs to move the ball ten or more yards. A play ends when the player with the ball is either stopped or goes out-of-bounds, or if the ball is thrown and not caught, which is called an incomplete pass. A player is stopped when his knees touch the ground. This happens as a result of being tackled by a defensive player or because he fell down. When a play is over, an official blows a whistle. Normally, the offensive teams try move the ball 10 yards in 3 plays or less. If this is not accomplished in 3 plays, the fourth down is used to kick the ball toward the other team. The ball is not placed on the ground and kicked as it is in a kickoff. Instead, the ball is snapped back to the kicker who then punts it to the other team. . . The offensive team don’t have to punt on 4th down. If the distance is very short, or if a team is far behind in the score, they use the fourth down play to attempt to complete the 10 yards. . If they fail to complete the 10 yards on the fourth down, the ball is turned over where it ends up to the other team. Additionally, the offensive team may decide to kick a field goal if they are close enough to the defense’s goal posts. If the field goal attempt is unsuccessful, , the ball is turned over to the other team at the previous location before the field goal was kicked.

If the offensive team succeeds in advancing 10 yards or more, they receive a first down. In other words,, they receive a new set of 4 downs to make another 10 yards.

Scoring: The object of the game is to score more points than the opposing team. A touchdown is worth 6 points. After a touchdown is scored, the team attempts to kick the ball through the goal posts for an extra point. The scoring team also has the option of trying the 2 point conversion. This is accomplished by trying to get the ball into the opponent’s end zone again in one running or passing play. . The 2 point conversion is, , much more difficult than kicking an extra poin

A field goal is worth 3 points.

If an offensive player is stopped in his own end zone, the defense team scores a safety, which is worth 2 points. . After a safety, a player from the offense team must free kick the ball to the other team from his own 20 yard line. It’s called a free kick because the kicker may not be tackled.

Diagram of players

The Players: Each team has 11 players on the field. Before a play starts, the offensive players meet in a huddle to decide which play to execute . The plays are normally selected by the coaching staff who radio their selection to the quarter back, who then gives the other players the appropriate information. The defensive players may also huddle to select their own strategy for the next play. All players then come up to the line of scrimmage to begin the play. The line of scrimmage is an imaginary line drawn from one side of the field to the other through the tip of the football closest to the defense. Each team must stay on their own side of the line until the play begins .

The offensive team consists of a quarterback (the team leader), two additional players behind the quarterback referred to as the fullback and the tailback, five players in a line in front of the quarter back called the offensive line, and three receivers off to either side of the offensive line known as the tight end, split end, and flanker. The tight end stands close to the offensive line, while the others are further away. The center player of the five linemen on the offensive line is known as the center.

The defensive team consists of four linemen in front, three line backers in back of the the linemen, and four defensive backs further behind or to the sides. These four defensive backs are called corner backs and safeties.

The Plays: The offensive linemen all put a hand on the ground except for the center, who puts both hands on the ball. The quarterback stands behind the center with his hands between the center’s legs, and then calls out a series of signals. Only the offensive players know which signal starts the play. The defense has to wait for the play to begin before they can react. Once the secret signal is given, the center snaps the ball to the quarterback to begin the play. Unless a timeout has been called, the offense has a maximum of 25 seconds from the end of the previous play to start the next play.

In a pass play, the quarterback takes a few steps back, waits for the receiver to be open, and throws the ball to that person. The pass receiver can be any offensive player other than a lineman. During a pass play, the defensive front four rush the quarterback hoping to either make him throw the ball early or sack him by tackling him before he throws the ball. The offensive linemen try to prevent the quarterback from being tackled by blocking the defensive linemen. However, the offensive lineman are not allowed to use their hands. Meanwhile, the defensive backs cover the receivers (try to prevent the receivers from catching the ball) by either running with them in man-to-man or zone coverage. Sometimes, in order to sack the quarterback, the defensive team blitzes sends one or more defensive backs after the quarterback. That can be a dangerous move because it can leave a receiver open for a complete pass to be easily executed.

If the pass is not caught before it touches the ground, it is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is then returned to the original line of scrimmage.If a pass is picked off (caught) by a defensive player, it is an interception and the ball is turned over to the other team.

In a rushing play, the quarterback hands the ball off to the tailback or fullback who then runs with the ball. The offensive linemen try to open holes in the defensive line for the rusher to run through by blocking the defensive linemen. If the rusher fumbles the ball before the play is over, both teams attempt to recover the ball. If a defensive player recovers the fumble, the ball is turned over to the other team.

Penalties: The referees in the striped shirts are the officials. They perform various tasks such as raising their arms to signal a touchdown or field goal, deciding if a pass was caught in or out-of-bounds, placing the ball on the line of scrimmage for the next play, measuring to see if 10 yards have been covered, and assessing penalties for rule infractions. To call a penalty, an official throws down a yellow penalty marker or flag on the ground. This is widely known as a “flag on a play.”

Illegal procedure: An offensive linemen moved before the play started, or a receiver who was in motion, before the play started, did not move parallel with the line of scrimmage. Also, if the the quarterback was past the line of scrimmage when he threw a pass. These infractions result in a 5 yard penalty.

Ineligible Receiver Down-field: An offensive lineman was too far past the line of scrimmage when the quarterback threw a pass. This results in a 5 yard penalty.

Delay of Game: The offensive team took more than 25 seconds to start the play. This results in a 5 yard penalty.

Grounding the Ball: The quarterback threw the ball away because he was about to be tackled instead of throwing the ball toward a possible receiver. . This results in a 5 yard penalty along with a the loss of the down.

Off-sides: A defensive player moved across the line of scrimmage and either made contact with an offensive player or failed to get back before the play started. This results in a 5 yard penalty.

Holding: An offensive lineman used his hands while blocking. This results in a 10 yard penalty.

Clipping, Illegal Block, Chop Block: This refers to blocking a player from the back. This results in a 10 yard penalty

Pass Interference: Grabbing or tackling the pass receiver while the pass is in the air. The defender must wait until the ball arrives. However, the defender can try the catch the ball , so he may collide with the receiver as they both try to make the catch. If there is interference, the penalty is 15 yards and a first down is granted even if the ten yards has not completed.

Unnecessary Roughness, Roughing the Passer, Roughing the Kicker: Tackling an offensive player after he no longer has the ball or after the play is over. This results in a 15 yard penalty.

Facemask: Grabbing the front of a player’s helmet during a tackle. This results in a 15 yard penalty if flagrant; and a 5 penalty, if determined it was incidental.

Unsportsman-like conduct: This results in a 15 yard penalty.

After a penalty is called, the other team can accept or decline the penalty. When a penalty is assessed, the ball is brought back to the original line of scrimmage, and the penalty is marked at this point. The down is then repeated unless the penalty includes the loss of a down. In other words, the play with the penalty does not count as one of the four allowed downs to gain 10 yards. If the team with the penalty did poorly on the play, the other team may want to turn down the penalty and accept the result of the previous play.

If both teams get a penalty on the same play, the play is repeated from the original line of scrimmage.

The maximum penalty is half the distance to the goal line even if a larger penalty would otherwise be assessed.

The Clock: The last two minutes of a half can take a long time to play. Throughout the game, the clock is stopped whenever there is an incomplete pass or the player with the ball runs out-of-bounds. If the clock is stopped temporarily when there’s a first down, the officials can move the chains at the side of the field that are used to measure the 10 yards. Each team is allowed to use 3 timeouts in each half of the game for various reasons. . In the last 2 minutes, the offensive team may throw incomplete passes and run outofbounds just to stop the clock. Unlike professional football, there is no “two minute warning.”


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