"Disconcerting Signals" included in NCAA's Weekly College Football Rules Review (video)
I realize this topic has been discussed enough, but I thought it was worth sharing that Nebraska's attempt at cheating made the official NCAA review.
The NCAA has released its weekly college football rules review with plays from Oklahoma/Texas, Michigan/Nebraska, and Auburn/Georgia, among others.
The Michigan/Nebraska is an official NCAA video breakdown of disconcerting signals.
October 14th, 2021 at 9:40 PM ^
...followed by a total flop by MSU receiver! Hope the refs remember these on Halloween eve
October 14th, 2021 at 9:51 PM ^
Interesting stuff, the jersey color penalty, that’s one I never knew.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:03 PM ^
So 2022 in Columbus let's go with our home / blue jerseys
And just play with one timeout per half and take 15 yd penalties 1st play of each half
Right?
October 14th, 2021 at 11:44 PM ^
I think this is a tradition of the USC/UCLA game
October 15th, 2021 at 12:46 AM ^
Because they decided it to be, since they used to share the same stadium.
But any pair of teams can do it if they agree to it. As long as there is some reasonable contrast.
Michigan - MSU would not really work, but Michigan - Ohio State would.
October 15th, 2021 at 12:04 AM ^
I really think this should be an annual thing, both teams play The Game in their home colors. Would look amazing.
October 15th, 2021 at 12:24 AM ^
It would be an authentic throwback. That's how it used to be done for The Game.
One of the newspaper accounts of the opening of Michigan Stadium in 1927 talks about Ohio State's scarlet jerseys. Pictures of the legendary 1950 Snow Bowl vs. Ohio State clearly show home vs. home jerseys.
Then in the mid-1950's, black and white TV caused football teams to have to go to home-color vs. away-white for the necessary contrast.
Well . . . we have hi-def color now.
Time to go back to the traditional color vs. color for The Game.
October 15th, 2021 at 12:35 AM ^
The penalty for violating the jersey color rule seems pretty light . . . 15 yards on kickoff and 2 time outs per half.
I sense the opportunity for some profitable mischief.
It could be worth the investment in those penalties if you are a running team and your opponent is a passing-oriented team with the same color home jerseys you have.
Have all 22 players with the same color jerseys and confuse the hell out of the opponent's QB on all those passing downs. Hard to tell the receivers from the defensive backs.
Might be worth a try against Penn State if the inexperienced, already-shaky Ta’Quan Roberson is still the PSU QB. He won't know what the hell is going on.
October 15th, 2021 at 1:59 AM ^
Lmao this is a joke, right?
30 yards and 4/6 of your timeouts is not light, it's a drastic competitive disadvantage that would never be worth it if you are serious about trying to win, which I hope we will be when we play Penn State.
Also, the video explicitly states that the jerseys have to be a "contrasting color," even if the other side agrees to let you wear colored jerseys.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:12 PM ^
"Nebraska's attempt at cheating" is a bit much. IMO the LB was clearly clapping (and looking) at a teammate in reference to how NE needed to be lined up on that play.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:16 PM ^
I could maybe buy it if they hadn't tried to draw a false start 5-10 other times. IIRC defensive players don't really use claps to get each others attention much. Seems more like wild hand waving most of the time...and when there were multiple other times they'd been clapping to draw a false start prior to this, I'm glad the official nabbed them
October 14th, 2021 at 10:58 PM ^
Defensive players can't use claps. That's all.
The Nebraska LB "looked at a teammate" and clapped.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:21 PM ^
Mmmm, I’m not sure. I swore that I saw a few instances - Seth highlighted them I believe? - where one of NE’s players clapped, a Michigan OL was flagged for a false start, and the DL player pumped his fist in response as if that was precisely what he were looking for. I attributed that LB looking at his teammate while clapping to him trying not to look as if he was purposely trying to draw a flag.
October 14th, 2021 at 11:00 PM ^
Nebraska used a pick play to convert that first 4th down they had. And the Nebraska player didn't even try to disguise it. He just ran into the Michigan defender and knocked him off coverage.
Clapping, picks, I don't think I'm a fan of Scott Frost.
October 15th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
Every offense uses pick plays (the Oklahoma 2-point conversion in the video is an example). What turns them into penalties is poor execution, a hallmark of Scott Frost's Nebraska.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:25 PM ^
Sure he was, that's how they claim it's an innocent signal, even though it is explicitly known that doinjg so disrupts the offense's snap count. It's like jerk who shoulders into you in an empty 15-foot-hallway and says "whoops, my bad."
They knew what they were doing.
October 15th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
some of us NEED all 15 feet.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:26 PM ^
Ignorance at its best. Take a moment to watch any of the game again and you’ll see it being done by different players at different times throughout the game. It was clearly orchestrated and effective. There is a reason that it made it in the video. because it happened so often and so egregiously that it warranted reminding refs about the rule.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:48 PM ^
Except he did it repeatedly. Always just a second or two before the snap. Usually an LB shouts instructions, rather than claps, because clapping is a waste of time. Has it occurred to you that he was trying to disguise the clap because otherwise it would be too obvious?
October 15th, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^
Ironically, the one time they clapped where it may not have been intentional to mess with us was the one time they received a penalty. Not sure I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he was cheating, this was the best effort at disguising it
October 14th, 2021 at 10:18 PM ^
That is a tough one. How mad would we be if it was Michigan called for that. I had thought the linebacker did it on purpose. Definitely not what happened.
October 15th, 2021 at 8:32 AM ^
We would be mad that Michigan got caught, and there would some consternation at the attempt even if not caught. It's a fairly big penalty that can put your defense in a bind. I get trying to steal signals from second base, but institutional attempts at gaming the game are bullshit.
Nebraska made an entire game plan out of gaming the game. They clapped on ~10 plays (it worked several times vs only one flag), they made several late substitutions, they lined up illegally on multiple occasions... Just play the damn game - if you aren't good enough to win, well, that's kind'a on you.
October 15th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
you obviously didn't watch the game did you?
they DID get called for it in the game, it is a RULE because teams have done it in hte past, the fact that they only got it called on them once is sad, it was done more than just 2 or 3 times and it IS illegal to do it.
not sure what else can be said since you
A don't care about the rules
b don't understand that they were breaking them.
October 15th, 2021 at 3:10 PM ^
Are you OK w/ UM taking penalties for their "innocent" clapping?
October 14th, 2021 at 10:24 PM ^
Disconcerting Signals would be a great band name.
October 14th, 2021 at 10:42 PM ^
First single, “I Really Didn’t Mean It”
October 15th, 2021 at 12:48 AM ^
Followed up by their big hit, "Scott Frost's Mom has got it goin' on."
October 15th, 2021 at 12:49 AM ^
Dunno if it slaps, but it definitely claps
October 14th, 2021 at 10:38 PM ^
So it's official and public: Nebraska broke the rule. And embarrassing?
Perhaps their repeated disconcerting signals was simply a coincidence.
October 15th, 2021 at 8:35 AM ^
Can't watch the video at work, so I'll just hope that the NCAA not only showed the one time it was called, but also showed how they did it multiple times. That would have the effect of telling the refs how it's done - indiscreetly by covered up DL, LBs with a back to the ref, and DBs out on the edges where nobody is looking, and with arms kept inside the body (so no exaggerated arm movements).
Nebraska did it all, and then some... I know Seth says the TD from an illegal formation was not intended to be an illegal formation. I'm not sure about that. Yeah, it stretches belief that they would try something so seemingly obvious, but they lined up illegally a few other times, too, and were only called for it once.
I wonder if Frost had put so much effort into a legit game plan as he did on bending rules, if they wouldn't have won?
October 15th, 2021 at 9:21 AM ^
Until the Nebraska game, I truly did not know that there was such a thing as a penalty for "Disconcerting Signals." So it was a great teaching point.
May I suggest that there also be a penalty for "Disappointing Signals?" This would penalize the offense for calling a play that doesn't have a snowball's chance of working, because everybody and his mother knows what's coming.