Nope.
Ehh... this one is debatable.
Are you saying we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory?
One question I have about that play. Its not related to whether or not it was targeting.
I brought this up, although I don’t think it’s whining to say the referees need to actually enforce a rule that was a point of emphasis this year. It happened before the first down play on the drive in which Haynes fumbled. Had they called it correctly, we get the first down and probably ice the game.
We made the same mistake the week before against NC State but we got away with it. Georgia is a better football team than NC State. We didn’t get away with it.
There is no way that calling illegal shifts on defense was a point of emphasis this year, because it is not illegal for a defense to shift.
The play is dead when the refs blow the whistle and say it's dead. It's sort of a gray area and they consider it dead when they see fit, and then they blow the whistle. So anything that happens during the whistle or shortly thereafter would be considered "after the play." Here, they never even mentioned that although it seemed the line judge had already blown his whistle and was coming in with his arm raised giving King the 1st down. After review they probably thought, "man we'll get a hell of a raise if we let this fumble stand."
They actually did make it a point of emphasis that quick movements by the line in unison that cause the offensive line to jump is in fact a delay of game penalty. It was being called a good bit early in the season. It kinda faded away.
It's not the shift that is the penalty. They can't clap or use an audible "signal" to do it that mimics the snap. That is what the penalty is. Shifting (stemming is the actual correct term) is legal.
And the hold.
I’m just telling you what was called earlier in the season. I’m not making a judgment on this play. Maybe there was more to it than what I recall, but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t. I think that’s part of why it faded away it became too difficult and subjective for officials to call.
And I'm telling you what the penalty is. They don't call a penalty for an illegal shift on the defense. The penalty they call when they do that is "delay of game on the defense for disconcerting signals", and it's because of the audible clap or the call made by a LB. It's not for the shift itself.
Well, maybe not everyone wants to end up posting like you on gameday, so they choose a different path?
And I’m telling you earlier in the season it was very subjective and refs were simply calling it for the defensive line all moving this season. They were interpreting abrupt movements that caused a false start as a delay of game penalty in more than a few games. Now whether that was an incorrect interpretation and that’s why it stopped maybe is true. But I know it was called for little more than an entire line shifting in unison or stemming if you prefer. I know the rule. I also know they wanted it called more, and it was being called more and coaches weren’t too happy.