Big Ten Officiating

This is the heart of every Saturday in the Big Ten. This is central control for the conference office and its officials. Located in the Big Ten office the head of the officiating which oversees the Big Ten, Mid-American Conference and Missouri Valley sit in this room keeping a close watch on every game it has officials working.

Jay Reid is the video coordinator is ensures every game is captured and recorded looking at every play. Every week he takes video from the tv copy as well as coaches video of every team in the conference. On a weekly basis he'll put together a training video of some of the more questionable calls.

This year there are three major differences to fans. One is the enforcement of excessive celebration. Now it is a spot foul and points may be taken off the board if it occurs prior to a ball handler enters the end zone. Another rule change is the ten second run off at the end of a half. If the offensive team commits a foul inside :10 of a half the clock will run ten seconds off the clock. And finally the blocking below the waist is another change. Rules have been constantly altered throughout the summer and it will be interesting to see how confusing it will be for fans and commentators  to understand the call as well as coaches and players.

Big Ten Video Meeting

Indianapolis is the center of the professional football world this week as all of the elite college football players congregate to demonstrate their talents in front of the NFL coaches and player personnel for the annual NFL Combine. Prior to the start of the combine the NFL Video Directors have their meetings to discuss their rules, technology and handling everything from college video transfer, game week video transfer as well as seeing the newest technology.

Indianapolis is also the geographic center of the Big Ten and it is where the conference video coordinators met for their annual meetings. On the college level the discussions are much the same as the professional, but the colleges tend to push the envelope with innovations and technology. Among the topics the Big Ten addressed is the shooting, editing and networking of HD video and the roadmap for it to happen. With almost half of the conference operating off a software that will not allow this to happen, the Big Ten looks to be 1 - 2 years away.

Jay Reid, Video Coordinator for the Big Ten Office is in charge of coordinating the needs of game officials. Jay spoke of upcoming changes and modifications to the current system. Big Ten teams send Jay their game once it posted to the internet, from there he pulls controversial plays for Bill Carrolla to view and match them up with the television copy. Jay also sends out copies for all of the game officials to view off their home computer.

Matt Harper and Tom Shepherd of Michigan State earned the Big Ten Video Coordinator of the Year award. They are now eligible for the naitonal honor awarded in May. The two day event was filled with meetings and vendor presentations. Below Jay updates the video coordinators on improvements the conference is making with HD Replay.

College Football Week 9

Blue is the best way to describe Michigan faithful following a 38-13 drubbing to the Big Ten basement dweller, Illinois. The Fighting Illini outscored the Wolverines 31-0 in the second half. The turning point of the game was an Illini goal line stand from the 1 on four downs. Although Michigan is one win away from being bowl eligible, the faithful were expecting better things from head coach Rich Rodriguez in his second year. Much of the talk prior to the season reinforced how Rodriguez was able to turn around the West Virginia program in year two. Home games against Purdue and Ohio State as well as a trip to Wisconsin realistically gives them one more win in 2009, fans may not be patient nor may be the school. Michigan Stadium re-opens in 2010 with brand new luxury boxes which aren't completely sold. The athletic director who hired Rodriguez will be out before the start of the 2010 season, and perhaps a new coach will be running out of the tunnel, too. Les Miles?....Much has been made of poor officiating in the SEC, Pac 10 and Big 10 over the last few weeks, but lost in the shuffle is the poor job done by the on-field clock official. For example in the three of Iowa's wins the clock operator has been questioned. Against Northern Iowa in the opener, the Panthers lined up for a game winning field goal with :08 to play. The kick was blocked, ball rolled around while a Northern Iowa lineman picked it up to maintain position. The clock ticked to :01 giving the Panthers a second shot. Many believed the time should've run out, but due to a replay that did not have the clock on-screen, the replay officials could not overturn it. A week ago at East Lansing, the Hawkeyes had a 3rd and goal from inside the five with :05 to play. A slant pass only lasted three seconds allowing the Hawkeyes one more opportunity. Then Saturday following a Hoosier touchdown the 0n-field timer did not stop the clock and let it click to 4:55. My video showed it ticked from 5:01 to 4:58, yet time was reset to 5:00. Moments like these would be better handled by placing the timer in the press box, not on field. It is difficult to see across the field, and they become too involved in the action and forget about the job at hand. There is only one of these situations that have proved to be incorrect (Indiana), but the Big Ten cannot afford more bad press in an area that should be governed better....Over the weekend two SEC schools made adjustments to the uniforms prior to taking the field. Georgia came out for pre-game warm-ups wearing their custom red helmets. Once they took the playing field against the Florida Gators they wore black helmets. Elsewhere the Tennessee Volunteers ditched the home orange tops for black, making them look more like Halloween pumpkins, than the Volunteers. The SEC has always been known as a football first conference, yet these uniform changes are ridiculous and the money could be used in better ways. The NCAA has instituted rules based on certain decals that can be found on a team's jersey, but they should be more concerned about wasteful spending on multiple uniform styles.

Saturday Scrimmage

An old face returned to Iowa Football, while a familar name to those who follow professional football appeared at practice in his new job. Ed Podolak, fresh off the news of his return to the broadcast booth, joined Gary Dolphin prior to a scheduled press conference for Iowa's Spring Drills.

Former NFL official and new head of Big Ten officiating, Bill Carolla attended as officials from the midwest worked the scrimmage. Individuals who have officiated some Big Ten game, but aren't full-time to the conference got some much needed experience.

Sittin in the Principal's Office

I do tire of these award shows becomming political soapboxes. And now there is a tribute on the Grammy's to New Orleans and how they continue to have much to rebuild. I suppose the next hour will be the salute to Eastern Iowa....

Check out the following:

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press isn't a fan of National Letter of Intent Day.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution speaks to the budget involved in NLI Day.

The Head of Big Ten Officials steps down to oversee officiating throughout the country.

Big Ten Officials

Dave Perry, Coordinator of Big Ten Officials visited the Iowa Football Complex to discuss the latest rule changes as well as reviewing a video which included how personal fouls may be called differently this year as well as reviewing various sportsmanship calls which were either flagged or not over the past year. Two big changes in store for the 2008 season include the implementation of the 40/25 second play clock and making all Face Mask penalties 15 yards personal fouls.

Officials have had to make a decision of whether or not a facemask is either unintentional and marked off for five yards, or a personal foul for 15 yards. The guess work is taken out and all will be fifteen. A player may graze the mask, but as long as there is a grab and turn or jerk, the flag will fly.

In an attempt to shorten the game for television purposes the college game will use the 40/25 play clock which is similar to the NFL. The game clock will continue to stop until the chains are set on all first downs, but as soon as the ball is dead from the previous play, the play clock will begin. The only time the 25 second play clock will be used is after any administrative stops by the officials. It is now important for coaches to utilize their time outs wisely. If a team has no time outs, on defense and are behind with less than two minutes remaining, the offensive team will only need to take a knee for three straight plays and the game will be over. I have always liked the old college rules of the 25 second play clock so I'm not looking forward to the change.

Mr. Perry also informed the team that the head referee for the first game of the year vs Maine will be Dave Witvoet. Not happy about that either.

Dave Perry is reviewing the new play clock rules with Iowa Offensive Coordinator, Ken O'Keefe.