Ens

SECTION 1. Start of Each Period

First and Third Periods ARTICLE 1. Pregame Warmup. Prior to regular season games, teams must have access to the field for pregame warm-ups until at least 22 minutes before the opening kickoff. This may be altered in advance through written mutual agreement of the teams. Game management personnel are responsible for administering this rule. Each half shall start with a kickoff. Three minutes before the scheduled starting time, the referee shall toss a coin at midfield in the presence of not more than four field captains from each team and another game official, first designating the field captain of the visiting team to call the coin toss. »

Section 1. Approved Rulings and Official’s Signals

ARTICLE 1. An approved ruling (A.R.) is an official decision on a given statement of facts. It serves to illustrate the spirit and application of the rules. The relationship between the rules and an approved ruling is analogous to that between statutory law and a decision of the Supreme Court. An official’s signal [S] refers to the Official Football Signals 1 through 47. »

RULE 1 - The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

Sections: General Provisions The Field The Ball Players and Playing Equipment »

Section 1. General Provisions

The Game ARTICLE 1. The game shall be played between two teams of not more than 11 players each, on a rectangular field and with an inflated ball having the shape of a prolate spheroid. A team legally may play with fewer than 11 players, but a foul for an illegal formation occurs if the following requirements are not met: When the ball is free-kicked, at least four Team A players are on each side of the kicker (Rule 6-1-2-c-3). »

SECTION 2. Playing Time and Intermissions

Length of Periods and Intermissions ARTICLE 1. The total playing time in a collegiate game shall be 60 minutes, divided into four periods of 15 minutes each, with one-minute intermissions between the first and second periods (first half ) and between the third and fourth periods (second half) (Exception: A one-minute intermission between the first and second and the third and fourth periods may be extended for radio and television timeouts). »

SECTION 2. The Ball: Live, Dead, Loose, Ready For Play

Live Ball ARTICLE 1. A live ball is a ball in play. A pass, kick or fumble that has not yet touched the ground is a live ball in flight. Dead Ball ARTICLE 2. A dead ball is a ball not in play. Loose Ball ARTICLE 3. A loose ball is a live ball not in player possession during: A running play. »

Section 2. The Field

Dimensions and Markings ARTICLE 1. The field shall be a rectangular area with dimensions, lines, zones, goals and pylons as indicated in Appendix C. All field-dimension lines shown must be white and 4 inches in width (Exceptions: Sidelines and end lines may exceed 4 inches in width, goal lines may be 4 or 8 inches in width, and Rule 1-2-1-g). Twenty-four-inch short yard-line extensions, four inches inside the sidelines and at the hash marks, are mandatory; and all yard lines shall be four inches from the sidelines (Rule 2-12-6). »

SECTION 3. Timeouts: Starting and Stopping the Clock

Timeout ARTICLE 1. An official shall signal timeout when the rules provide for stopping the clock or when a timeout is charged to a team or to the referee. Other officials should repeat timeout signals. The referee may declare and charge himself with a discretionary timeout for any contingency not elsewhere covered by the rules (A.R. 3-3-1-IV). When a team’s charged timeouts are exhausted and it requests a timeout, the officials shall not acknowledge the request. »

SECTION 3. Blocking

Blocking ARTICLE 1. Blocking is obstructing an opponent by intentionally contacting him with any part of the blocker’s body. Pushing is blocking an opponent with open hands. Below Waist ARTICLE 2. A block below the waist is a block in which the force of the initial contact is below the waist of an opponent who has one or both feet on the ground. »

Section 3. The Ball

Specifications ARTICLE 1. The ball shall meet the following specifications: New or nearly new. (A nearly new ball is a ball that has not been altered and retains the properties and qualities of a new ball.) Cover consisting of four panels of pebble-grained leather without corrugations other than seams. One set of eight equally spaced lacings. Natural tan color. Two 1-inch white stripes that are three to three-and-one-quarter inches from the end of the ball and located only on the two panels adjacent to the laces. »