Football Zebras has obtained the crew assignments for the 2021 college football conference championships. Assignments are handled by each conference. Depending on the procedures for each conference, crews are may eligible for bowl games. All times listed are Eastern. indicates an official that is in the NFL's officiating development pool, either by making the preseason development roster or working a college all-star game in 2019-2021. Friday, Dec. 3 Conference USA Championship Western Kentucky vs. Texas-San Antonio Location Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Time/network 7 p.m. CBSSN R Kevin Randall U Jeremy Epps H Brian Baker L Jeremiah Harris F Lark Jones S Brandon Spencer B Tom Healy C Josh Larson Alternate Kevin Vicknair Replay Romas Kozica Communicator Aaron Neidert Pac-12 Conference Championship Oregon vs. Utah Location Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas Time/network 8 p.m. ABC R Steve Strimling U Greg Adams H Rod Ammari L Dale
News
Commentary by Ben Austro Under previous NFL officiating administrations, Fridays were sort of a news dump of rulesplaining in their weekly "media tapes." The original purpose of the media tapes was to allow the officiating department to communicate with members of the media to clarify calls and rules interpretations that had recently come up. This was intended to educate, so the video did not always dive into the hot-button controversial plays unless there was a rule or interpretation. These tapes were regularly covered here, and gradually they became more of a public-facing videos. The last media tape was produced at the end of
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It's always hard for officials to be away from home on a special holiday. So it was for referee John McDonough and his officiating crew, scheduled to work the Christmas Day divisional playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the visiting Miami Dolphins. McDonough, who officiated Super Bowl IV, and was a AFL and NFL referee from 1960 to 1973, lead a veteran crew that included umpire Frank Sinkovitz, head linesman Leo Miles, line judge Bill Swanson, field judge Bob Baur and back judge Adrian Burk. The NFL had never scheduled a postseason game on Christmas. A few years before the
Mechanics
When I wrote a recap of the 2020 season, I closed my column by saying "may we never again have another like it." This season, covid-19 is still with us, but for the officials, it will not be a repeat of 2020. Vaccines The NFL reported that 99% of its employees have been vaccinated. Getting the vaccine is a condition of employment. Hopefully, this vaccine will help prevent officials from getting sick, and we won't see a repeat of the frantic Week 17 massive substitutions from last year. More crowded sideline During a game, media members, photographers, cheerleaders, support staff and other sideline guests, have
Embed from Getty Images Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers loves to move his offense to the line of scrimmage quickly and snap the ball in an attempt to catch the defense off-guard, and perhaps with too many men on the field. Even the late great Alex Trebek knew this. However, in last weekend's Divisional Playoff between Rodgers' Packers and the Los Angeles Rams, the crew was able to stop the tactic by holding up play to allow for equal substitution. Early in the first quarter of the game, the Rams were penalized for too many men on the field, as their
