Penalties! You can have the greatest offense on the planet, but if that 50 yard run for a score is nullified by a holding call or a false start or ineligible player downfield you are going to lose the game. It occurs to me that most holding calls occur at the edge - right or left tackle or with a tight end. Refs seem to watch those players more closely than others, particularly, in the Pac12. One thing that stood out to me from the NCG is the lack of calls. It seemed like there was hands to the face, facemask and holding by both teams, but they simply weren't called.

Checking cfbstats, I find that Cal finished in the middle of the pack in penalties, i.e., 53rd, giving up around 50 yards per game and 5.7 penalties per game. Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, the Furd finished tied for 18th (very good) and gave up about 42 per game. An insignificant difference? Not necessarily and a penalty or two may have been the difference in winning or losing. Likewise, false start penalties are the most maddening. The slightest flinch is often picked up by the refs rendering a good effort by the offense less good. While watching the Pro's I don't detect that false starts are called nearly as much. There is a place for false starts, but it does seem to be abused and called far too often. Nevertheless, a winning team does not give the game away.

Although cfbstats are pretty comprehensive, I don't know of any place a fan could find statistics setting forth specific penalties. I would be curious to know how many times our tackles (for ex.) have been called for holding. You always seem to have to hold your breath after a long run and see if a holding call has nullified a score.

Bear8 said:

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Penalties! You can have the greatest offense on the planet, but if that 50 yard run for a score is nullified by a holding call or a false start or ineligible player downfield you are going to lose the game. It occurs to me that most holding calls occur at the edge - right or left tackle or with a tight end. Refs seem to watch those players more closely than others, particularly, in the Pac12. One thing that stood out to me from the NCG is the lack of calls. It seemed like there was hands to the face, facemask and holding by both teams, but they simply weren't called.

Checking cfbstats, I find that Cal finished in the middle of the pack in penalties, i.e., 53rd, giving up around 50 yards per game and 5.7 penalties per game. Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, the Furd finished tied for 18th (very good) and gave up about 42 per game. An insignificant difference? Not necessarily and a penalty or two may have been the difference in winning or losing. Likewise, false start penalties are the most maddening. The slightest flinch is often picked up by the refs rendering a good effort by the offense less good. While watching the Pro's I don't detect that false starts are called nearly as much. There is a place for false starts, but it does seem to be abused and called far too often. Nevertheless, a winning team does not give the game away.

Although cfbstats are pretty comprehensive, I don't know of any place a fan could find statistics setting forth specific penalties. I would be curious to know how many times our tackles (for ex.) have been called for holding. You always seem to have to hold your breath after a long run and see if a holding call has nullified a score.

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Just for the record - ineligible OLer downfield can only be called on a pass play (in which the pass is attempted beyond the LOS).

Watching college football on a weekly basis, it is quite apparent there are fewer penalties called in other conferences. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience watching the games.

Also, one highly regarded recruit from the west - DB Chris Steele - opted to head to the SEC, in part, because of officiating - the SEC allows defenders to play a more physical style of defense.

71Bear said:

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Bear8 said:

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Penalties! You can have the greatest offense on the planet, but if that 50 yard run for a score is nullified by a holding call or a false start or ineligible player downfield you are going to lose the game. It occurs to me that most holding calls occur at the edge - right or left tackle or with a tight end. Refs seem to watch those players more closely than others, particularly, in the Pac12. One thing that stood out to me from the NCG is the lack of calls. It seemed like there was hands to the face, facemask and holding by both teams, but they simply weren't called.

Checking cfbstats, I find that Cal finished in the middle of the pack in penalties, i.e., 53rd, giving up around 50 yards per game and 5.7 penalties per game. Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, the Furd finished tied for 18th (very good) and gave up about 42 per game. An insignificant difference? Not necessarily and a penalty or two may have been the difference in winning or losing. Likewise, false start penalties are the most maddening. The slightest flinch is often picked up by the refs rendering a good effort by the offense less good. While watching the Pro's I don't detect that false starts are called nearly as much. There is a place for false starts, but it does seem to be abused and called far too often. Nevertheless, a winning team does not give the game away.

Although cfbstats are pretty comprehensive, I don't know of any place a fan could find statistics setting forth specific penalties. I would be curious to know how many times our tackles (for ex.) have been called for holding. You always seem to have to hold your breath after a long run and see if a holding call has nullified a score.

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Just for the record - ineligible OLer downfield can only be called on a pass play (in which the pass is attempted beyond the LOS).

Watching college football on a weekly basis, it is quite apparent there are fewer penalties called in other conferences. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience watching the games.

Also, one highly regarded recruit from the west - DB Chris Steele - opted to head to the SEC, in part, because of officiating - the SEC allows defenders to play a more physical style of defense.

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Yup PAC-12 refs are far more flag happy than any other conference.

I remember seeing a stat a couple years ago that showed 7 out of 12 teams in the conference were among the top-10 most penalized teams in the country. Either that is just 1) a bizarre statiscal anomaly, 2) or our teams are more disciplined than anyone else or 3) pac 12 refs.

71Bear said:

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Bear8 said:

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Penalties! You can have the greatest offense on the planet, but if that 50 yard run for a score is nullified by a holding call or a false start or ineligible player downfield you are going to lose the game. It occurs to me that most holding calls occur at the edge - right or left tackle or with a tight end. Refs seem to watch those players more closely than others, particularly, in the Pac12. One thing that stood out to me from the NCG is the lack of calls. It seemed like there was hands to the face, facemask and holding by both teams, but they simply weren't called.

Checking cfbstats, I find that Cal finished in the middle of the pack in penalties, i.e., 53rd, giving up around 50 yards per game and 5.7 penalties per game. Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, the Furd finished tied for 18th (very good) and gave up about 42 per game. An insignificant difference? Not necessarily and a penalty or two may have been the difference in winning or losing. Likewise, false start penalties are the most maddening. The slightest flinch is often picked up by the refs rendering a good effort by the offense less good. While watching the Pro's I don't detect that false starts are called nearly as much. There is a place for false starts, but it does seem to be abused and called far too often. Nevertheless, a winning team does not give the game away.

Although cfbstats are pretty comprehensive, I don't know of any place a fan could find statistics setting forth specific penalties. I would be curious to know how many times our tackles (for ex.) have been called for holding. You always seem to have to hold your breath after a long run and see if a holding call has nullified a score.

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Just for the record - ineligible OLer downfield can only be called on a pass play (in which the pass is attempted beyond the LOS).

Watching college football on a weekly basis, it is quite apparent there are fewer penalties called in other conferences. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience watching the games.

Also, one highly regarded recruit from the west - DB Chris Steele - opted to head to the SEC, in part, because of officiating - the SEC allows defenders to play a more physical style of defense.

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I'm being nit-picky, but that should be a pass play that travels beyond the LOS. One attempted beyond the LOS is an illegal forward pass... which of course didn't stop TCU's QB from doing in his dogged attempt to throw interceptions!

TheFiatLux said:

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71Bear said:

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Bear8 said:

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Penalties! You can have the greatest offense on the planet, but if that 50 yard run for a score is nullified by a holding call or a false start or ineligible player downfield you are going to lose the game. It occurs to me that most holding calls occur at the edge - right or left tackle or with a tight end. Refs seem to watch those players more closely than others, particularly, in the Pac12. One thing that stood out to me from the NCG is the lack of calls. It seemed like there was hands to the face, facemask and holding by both teams, but they simply weren't called.

Checking cfbstats, I find that Cal finished in the middle of the pack in penalties, i.e., 53rd, giving up around 50 yards per game and 5.7 penalties per game. Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, the Furd finished tied for 18th (very good) and gave up about 42 per game. An insignificant difference? Not necessarily and a penalty or two may have been the difference in winning or losing. Likewise, false start penalties are the most maddening. The slightest flinch is often picked up by the refs rendering a good effort by the offense less good. While watching the Pro's I don't detect that false starts are called nearly as much. There is a place for false starts, but it does seem to be abused and called far too often. Nevertheless, a winning team does not give the game away.

Although cfbstats are pretty comprehensive, I don't know of any place a fan could find statistics setting forth specific penalties. I would be curious to know how many times our tackles (for ex.) have been called for holding. You always seem to have to hold your breath after a long run and see if a holding call has nullified a score.

---

Just for the record - ineligible OLer downfield can only be called on a pass play (in which the pass is attempted beyond the LOS).

Watching college football on a weekly basis, it is quite apparent there are fewer penalties called in other conferences. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience watching the games.

Also, one highly regarded recruit from the west - DB Chris Steele - opted to head to the SEC, in part, because of officiating - the SEC allows defenders to play a more physical style of defense.

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I'm being nit-picky, but that should be a pass play that travels beyond the LOS. One attempted beyond the LOS is an illegal forward pass... which of course didn't stop TCU's QB from doing in his dogged attempt to throw interceptions!

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Correct. My error........

I believe that Pac 12 refs call more fouls so that they (and Larry Scott) have better control of the game.