Stats / scorekeeping question

[Cledus]

I've got a question about official scorekeeping and I know there are people here more knowledgeabler than me.

In the boxscore for the SEMO game, we were credited with five sacks. But when you go to the section for defensive players and add up each individual player's tackles / sacks, it comes up to 6. I'm trying to figure out if this was just a goof, or if there's a legitimate reason they don't agree.

• Sterk - 3

• Andersen - 1

• Ferriter - 1

• Rygg - 1

I think it was Ferriter who blew up the play that resulted in intentional grounding. Was he credited with a sack that wasn't counted for the team? Do players get credited with a sack when a QB is flagged for intentional grounding?

Here's the boxscore

[iaafan]

I noticed that also. I believe a play was recognized as a sack that was not given negative yards. I think you have to lose yards for it to be a sack. Pretty sure it was Ferriter.

[allcat]

I noticed that also. I believe a play was recognized as a sack that was not given negative yards. I think you have to lose yards for it to be a sack. Pretty sure it was Ferriter.

They do lose yards on grounding

[iaafan]

I noticed that also. I believe a play was recognized as a sack that was not given negative yards. I think you have to lose yards for it to be a sack. Pretty sure it was Ferriter.

They do lose yards on grounding

If you go to the Big Sky site and look up the defensive stats you’ll see Ferriter with one sack for zero yards. If you look at the team stats and Semo qb stats it shows them being sacked five times. This is where I think the discrepancy is. The rule book says “for plays that end either on the line of scrimmage or beyond, there is no sack....There can be no pass sack without loss of yardage.”
fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Stats_Manuals/Football/2011ez.pdf

Unless there’s been a rule change that’s how it’s scored.

[Cataholic]

Interesting. Isn’t a play nullified if a penalty is accepted? Maybe there is an exception for grounding where the grounding occurred to avoid a sack, so the player is awarded the sack even though the penalty is accepted.

[Cledus]

Interesting. Isn’t a play nullified if a penalty is accepted? Maybe there is an exception for grounding where the grounding occurred to avoid a sack, so the player is awarded the sack even though the penalty is accepted.

If it was up to me, I'd score it as a sack if for no other reason it's a loss of down at the spot of the infraction. To not call that a sack is a matter of semantics. In this particular case, Santacaterina was wrapped up and pancaked.

[Cledus]

I noticed that also. I believe a play was recognized as a sack that was not given negative yards. I think you have to lose yards for it to be a sack. Pretty sure it was Ferriter.

They do lose yards on grounding

If you go to the Big Sky site and look up the defensive stats you’ll see Ferriter with one sack for zero yards. If you look at the team stats and Semo qb stats it shows them being sacked five times. This is where I think the discrepancy is. The rule book says “for plays that end either on the line of scrimmage or beyond, there is no sack....There can be no pass sack without loss of yardage.”
fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Stats_Manuals/Football/2011ez.pdf

Unless there’s been a rule change that’s how it’s scored.

So it sounds like our people made an error in calling that a sack. Not that big a deal, I was just looking for clarification on the definition. Thanks for taking the time to look that up.

[TomCat88]

Unfortunately a player doesn’t get credit for a sack when he forces the quarterback into intentionally grounding.

I recall the play that Ferriter made, which was a different play. I thought the play before should’ve been recorded as the next yard line, but the statisticians ruled that the ball was touching the yard line behind it. Ferriter made his tackle behind that yard line, but since it had been spotted on the previous line it was ruled 0 yards instead of a 1-yard loss. SEMO did lose ground on the play, but not in the scorebook.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Thanks all who have contributed here, and Cledus for asking the question. Very interesting.

[iaafan]

One thing that leads to confusion is the spotting of the ball. If the ball is completely past a yard line, then it is put in the scorebook as the next yard line away. So if the offense has the in its own territory and the ball is past the 30-yard line and no part of it is touching the 30-yard line, then it is put in the scorebook as the 31. Even if the back tip of the ball is just a half inch past the 30 and is two feet away from the 31. The only time this isn’t the case is inside the one going in. In that case once the ball is just a half inch past the 2 it’s on the one until it gets into the end zone. So you could move it from just inside the 2 to just a fraction of an inch from the goal line and not get credit for a yard.