"Substitution with the Intent to Deceive"

Submitted by WichitanWolverine on

Someone please explain it to me. 10 point swing right there in my opinion.

Go Blue.

Mod edit: Here's the rule. Link. JGB.

Unfair Tactics

ARTICLE 2. a. No player shall conceal the ball in or beneath his clothing or equipment or substitute any other article for the ball.

b. No simulated replacements or substitutions may be used to confuse opponents. No tactic associated with substitutes or the substitution process may be used to confuse opponents (Rule 3-5-2-e) (A.R. 9-2-2-I-V).

DreisbachToHayes

November 7th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^

the rule seems like it would be a worthy rule only in the declaring of a lineman being an eligible receiver... not "I thought the 11th man was running off the field but oops I guess he wasn't"

allintime23

November 7th, 2015 at 5:46 PM ^

At least we took the two worst targeting shots this year without calls. I get it that we kicked everyone's ass for a hundred years but these calls against us are beyond out of hand.

Stu Daco

November 7th, 2015 at 5:47 PM ^

Three guys came off the field.  Three other guys came on.  Then Jake Butt went away from the huddle out wide.  Where is the intent to deceive?

mGrowOld

November 7th, 2015 at 5:49 PM ^

B1G 10 Officials do everything they can do to try and get us to lose. Anybody who thinks otherwise is naive. If they were simply incompetent they'd make as many jaw droppingingly insane calls for us as against us. And yet they NEVER do. NEVER.

JamieH

November 7th, 2015 at 7:01 PM ^

I think Big Ten refs have this year, in general, sucked donkey balls.  They have absolutely no clue what targeting is.  I have no idea why they picked up the targeting flag against the Rutgers guy after he clocked the MIchigan guy head-to-head so hard that it looks like he gave HIMSELF a concussion.

But I think they got this one right.  You can't sneak a receiver out wide along with a group of people subbing out of the game.  Butt was too close to the other guys going out of the game.  It is of course a judgement call, but I think he was close enough to the other guys going off the field that this was a legit call. 

They actually wrote the rule to address this EXACT play. 

RobSk

November 7th, 2015 at 11:54 PM ^

with your analysis is that he WASN'T among the players subbing out. He wasn't close to the players subbing out. Hell, he didn't MOVE until the players who subbed out were off the field.

The video of the ACC game where they DIDN'T get called was far more obviously a penalty, and did NOT get called.  They literally ran everybody off/everybody on in a huge group, and hid a guy on the sideline with a bunch of other guys standing just out of bounds. Michigan had NO one near Butt on the sideline.

It just wasn't a penalty. Thankfully, it doesn't really matter, except that it is, as JH says, offensively stupid.

    Rob

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 7th, 2015 at 7:53 PM ^

Like the NFL, the B1G has become an attempt to kept viewers watching longer.the lat 2 minutes of 1H were awful reffing. Never mind the numerous holding calls on Rutgers that were ignored or the PI on 50/50 plays. Rutgers is a pile of dung. Refs tried to keep them in the game. I like Harbaugh going for 2 in 2H to indicate no mercy if the crap continued.

Hugh

November 7th, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^

If you send a tight end out as a wide receiver you are guilty of deceiving the other team - unless you are not Michigan. The other Big 10 rule is: If you are Michigan, we have to pick up any targeting flags - and forget about any other penalty that should have been called on that play - such as roughing the quarter back or a block in the back. 

 

umich1

November 7th, 2015 at 8:19 PM ^

Harbaugh basically said in his press conference that they were planning to run the ball on that play. Interesting timing to intend to deceive!

BlueMk1690

November 7th, 2015 at 8:24 PM ^

Technically, it was of course designed to confuse Rutgers and to catch them asleep at the wheel. In order for this to be a legal play Butt quite intentionally left a gap behind the substituted players, but of course he was close enough to them that a lazy mind would assume he gets substituted.

In other words, Michigan basically got punished for the fact that Rutgers was so entirely fooled by it which in turn *proved* that they were deceived.

I also think Butt lined up unnecessarily wide - if he had lined up just 5 yards further inside he would still have been uncovered and it may well not have been called.

 

Hill Street Blue

November 7th, 2015 at 8:45 PM ^

in the '97 game in East Lansing on us removed -- with a similar play out of a field goal attempt formation?!  It was the first score of the game, and the only points MSU scored that day.

DealerCamel

November 7th, 2015 at 8:59 PM ^

SB Nation has a writeup of it here.

A1 leaves the field of play during a down. Team A huddles with 10 players. Substitute A12 enters, and A2 simulates leaving the field but sets near the sideline for a "hide-out'' pass. RULING: Penalty—15 yards from the previous spot. This is a simulated replacement of a player to confuse opponents.

 

So the refs got that one right.  I think it's a pretty dumb rule, but they got it right.

umich1

November 7th, 2015 at 9:08 PM ^

After watching the GIF of the play and reading the write up, I'm even more convinced it was a horrible call. Butt wasn't anywhere near any substitutions that were occurring. If that is a penalty, how is he legally supposed to go out wide to start the play? By walking?

My biggest beef with the play is the referee did not throw the flag until the pass was *completed*. If this was an egregious substitution penalty, why wasn't the flag thrown at the snap? It was because the result of the play influenced the referee's decision to flag the play.