Rules review video: Premature whistles, down by (helmet) contact, and chop blocks

2026 Media Video #2

National Coordinator of College Football Officiating Ron Snodgrass posted his second media video of the season, breaking down rules and interpretations from weeks 2 and 3 of the college football season.

• Premature whistle (out of bounds play). The quarterback is flushed from the pocket and appears to step out of bounds just before throwing a pass. Officials rule him out of bounds and blow the play dead, but a receiver catches the pass for a gain of 16 yards. Because the quarterback releases the ball before touching out of bounds, and the catch happens in continuing action, replay properly corrects the ruling to a completed pass. No further advance is allowed, only the yardage gained at the catch.
• Ball-carrier ruled down (helmet touches ground). Ball carriers are usually ruled down when a knee or elbow touches the ground, but by rule, any body part other than the hand or foot puts a runner down (the ankle and wrist count as part of the foot and hand). The runner here is tripped up, and his helmet is the first body part to hit the turf. Officials correctly rule him down short of the line to gain.
• Chop block. A chop block happens when two players block against one opponent, one blocking high and the other low (at the thigh or below). The high block usually comes first, but the foul does not require a specific sequence or delay between the two blocks. This is correctly flagged as a chop block, which is a player safety foul.
• Goal line extended. The receiver catches the pass and his knee touches the pylon, which by rule makes the ball dead at that spot. Touching the pylon triggers the goal line extended, widening the plane of the goal line outward at that point, and because the ball had already crossed that extended plane when the knee touched the pylon, the play is correctly ruled a touchdown.
• Roughing the kicker. On a blocked PAT attempt, the defender who contacts the kicker never touches the kick and makes forcible contact with the kicker. The referee correctly penalizes him for roughing the kicker, and his announcement specifically notes the kick was not touched by that player, since that detail is reviewable by replay.
• Kick catch interference (no signal) on a punt. A punt returner is in position to catch the ball but muffs it and is immediately hit by the defense. Since he did not give a fair catch signal, the contact is legal. Had he signaled for a fair catch, he would still be protected after the muff and allowed to complete the catch process. The kicking team recovers the loose ball but cannot advance it, since the ball is still a kick in progress.
• Helmet comes off. A ball carrier whose helmet comes completely off is ruled down at the spot, and the player must leave the game for one play, unless the helmet came off due to a foul. Here, the quarterback is hit, stays on his feet, and his helmet comes off with no foul on the play, so he heads to the sideline. He’s back in for the next snap only because his team calls a timeout, since a player sent out for a lost helmet, but not an injury, is allowed to return if his team takes a timeout first.
• Toe/heel. A receiver’s catch in the end zone is initially ruled incomplete, but replay reverses it to a touchdown because while his toe comes down inbounds, his heel never touches the ground out of bounds. Ordinarily, a single point of contact is enough to establish a foot down inbounds, but when a foot rolls through two points, toe then heel or heel then toe, both have to land inbounds for the catch to count.
• Completed pass. The receiver has firm control of the ball before going to the ground, and even though the ball touches the turf during the fall, he keeps it pinned to his chest and never loses control throughout the process. Because control is maintained the entire time he’s sliding on the ground, the catch is upheld, ruled correctly on the field and confirmed by replay.