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Last football season was very exciting for the Illini. They had a record of 9-7 and were invited to play in the prestigious Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. This season looks to be just as promising…but if you don’t understand football, it can be hard to jump on the bandwagon. Here are a few pointers to understanding the game. Good luck, and Go Illini!

So a touchdown is seven points, right?

Well, there are several different scoring plays in football. A touchdown can be seven points, but it can also be eight or six. When the ball first makes it into the endzone, the scoring team gets six points and an opportunity to kick a field goal for a one-point conversion, or put it back into the endzone for a two point conversion. Neither is guaranteed, however. If a team fails to score a touchdown but they are close enough to the endzone, they may elect to kick a field goal. If they make it, it’s three points. There is also a rare play called a safety, which happens when the other team gets tackled in their own endzone, or someone steps out of the endzone. (A team’s own endzone is the one opposite the one they want to score in). A safety is awarded two points.

Why are they kicking the ball away?

After a team scores, except on a safety (they get to keep the ball), the scoring team kicks it to the other team, who try to return the ball. If a team fails to get a first down and are not in field goal range, they must punt the ball to the other team.

First down? What about first up?

After a team gets the ball, they have four downs to get a first down. A first down is ten yards away from where they get the ball first, or the line of scrimmage. A team can go farther than ten yards, but if they are unsuccessful in getting the first down, that is when they must decide to punt the ball away or kick a field goal. Whatever is decided must happen on the fourth down, however. Therefore, a team has three downs to try and get the ten yards. Then they must make a decision to attempt the fourth down, punt the ball or kick the field goal. It all depends on field position.

What’s that yellow thing? Did the ref drop something?

Just like any other sport, there are rules that each team must follow. For each broken rule, there is a penalty, which can be anywhere from loss of down to loss of 15 yards. It all depends on the infraction and severity. When the referee sees something wrong, he throw his yellow flag (yes, they’re really called flags!) into the air and the clock stops. He will announce on his microphone what happened, who committed the penalty and what the punishment is. Some common penalties include pass interference, when a player is interfered with while a pass is intended for a receiver, or false start/encroachment/offsides, when one lineman gets past the line of scrimmage before the play has started. Luckily, the referee will always tell what happened on the play, accompanied with a nice little hand gesture.

Ohhh… so am I ready for fantasy football now?

Not so fast, but there are a few more little things that should be cleared up. The clock tends to stop – a lot. While quarters are only 15 minutes each, the clock will stop every scoring play, flag, first down, injury, incomplete pass, out of bounds, change of possession and whenever the TV people want. That’s why games take three or more hours. Also, a pass is complete when a player has one foot in-bounds (in the pros, it’s two.) If, say, a coach knew his player had one foot in bounds but the ref said it was incomplete, a coach could challenge the play and the referees could reverse their call if they saw on the replays that they were wrong.

Over time, football gets a whole lot easier to watch, and hopefully, with the right attitude, will become more than just a bunch of guys tackling each other. Happy viewing!