College football 101: A beginner's guide to being a Wade Wacko

With the fall sports season underway, The Chronicle is here with a breakdown of every sport, including key rules, terminology, qualifying procedures and more. Up next is a guide to football: 

Overview

As you take your seats inside Wallace Wade Stadium, here's what you need to know about football. It is a game divided into four 15-minute quarters. On offense, there are 11 players, led by the quarterback, who are trying to get the ball down the 100-yard field to score a touchdown in the end zone. On defense, there are 11 players trying to stop the offense from scoring by tackling and causing turnovers. Fans are encouraged to make noise while their team is on defense to distract opposing offenses and cause miscues. A football game features a 40-second play clock — the time in which the offense and defense choose what they will do on their respective sides of the ball. Starting this year, there's an automatic timeout during the two minute mark of the second and fourth quarters.

Terminology

Down: Every play in football is referred to as a down. At the start of every possession, each team will start with a fresh set of downs, starting with first down. The team will then have four downs to gain 10 yards, where they will start another set of downs. If they fail to reach 10 yards on the first three downs, teams will often punt or kick a field goal, but they also have the option to try and use their fourth down to gain the remaining yards. 

Field goal: A field goal takes place when the offense elects to send out its kicker and attempt a kick from its current spot on the field. The total distance to kick is 17 yards added to the distance that the team currently is from the end zone — to account for the position of the goal posts behind the end zone. If the ball successfully flies through the uprights, the field goal is good, and the kicking team receives three points. 

Extra point: Extra points take place after a touchdown, where the kicker will set up at the three-yard line and attempt a kick. Much like a field goal, the ball must fly through the uprights to count, and an extra point is only worth one point. 

Two-point conversion: The other option for teams after a touchdown is a two-point conversion. This consists of one offensive play that starts from the three-yard line just like a field goal. If the offense is able to reach the end zone on the play, they add two points to their tally. 

Line of scrimmage: The line of scrimmage refers to where the ball is placed before the start of every play, with an imaginary line stretching to both sidelines from the ball. The offense and defense must stay on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball or they will get a penalty. Traditionally, offensive and defensive lineman, as well as some wide receivers, will be who lines up at the line of scrimmage. 

Positions

• Quarterback: The quarterback is the leader of the offense. Each play, the ball will generally be snapped to the quarterback before he does one of three things: throw the ball, hand it off or run it himself. Quarterbacks will also make any adjustments before a play that they deem necessary based on the defense. 
  • Duke’s starter: Maalik Murphy
• Running back: The running back will generally line up beside or behind the quarterback, and their job is to run with the football. However, running backs can also go out for passes, and will sometimes stay in the area to block for the quarterback. 
  • Duke’s starter: Jaquez Moore
• Wide receiver/tight end: Wide receivers are the primary pass catchers for a team, and these players will line up farther away from the quarterback before running a route and looking for a throw from the quarterback. Tight ends are the other pass catchers on a team, but they are usually bigger than receivers and spend much more time blocking than receivers do. 
  • Duke’s starters: Jordan Moore, Eli Pancol, Sahmir Hagans, Nicky Dalmolin
• Offensive/defensive line: On both sides of a ball, you will find the offensive and defensive line, usually the largest players on the team. The offensive line, composed of five players (two tackles, two guards, and a center) are tasked with successfully blocking for the offense, while the defensive line (usually made up of three to five players) will attempt to disrupt these blocks and stop the offense. 
  • Duke’s offensive line starters: Bruno Fina, Caleb Krings, Matt Craycraft, Justin Pickett, Brian Parker II
  • Duke’s defensive line starters: Vincent Anthony Jr., Aaron Hall, Kendy Charles, Wesley Williams
• Linebacker: There will generally be two to four linebackers at a time on the field, and they serve as the second line of defense if anything gets past the defensive line. Usually, linebackers will have the most tackles on the team, and will also make the defensive adjustments similar to the quarterback on offense. 
  • Duke’s starters: Tre Freeman, Nick Morris Jr.
• Defensive back: The final line of defense is the defensive backs, and four to six are usually on the field at once. These players are primarily concerned with defending wide receivers and tight ends on pass plays, but they also may have to come tackle on runs if needed. 
  • Duke’s starters: Chandler Rivers, Cameron Bergeron, Joshua Pickett, Terry Moore, Jaylen Stinson
• Kicker/punter: The kicker and punter are known as specialists. The kicker trots out on kickoffs as well as field goals and extra points, while the punter will come out on fourth down when the team elects to punt. 
  • Duke’s starters: Todd Pelino, Kade Reynoldson

Rules and penalties

Downs and general rules of play: When on offense, each team has a series of four downs to get a first down. A down starts the moment the ball is snapped and ends when the play is blown dead, when a player is tackled, if they runs out of bounds or the ball is thrown for an incompletion. After the team gets a first down, their series of downs reset, and they have another four downs to get another first down. If a team doesn't punt, kick a field goal or get a first down, they then turn the ball over to the other team. 

False start: A false start is when an offensive player moves before the ball is snapped after they are set, resulting in a five-yard penalty. 

Holding: One of the more common penalties in football, holding can be called on the offense or the defense. Offensive holding is when any blocker grabs and holds a defensive player, while defensive holding is when a defensive player grabs or holds onto any receiver running a route after they are five yards downfield. Both offensive and defensive holding result in a 10-yard penalty. 

Pass interference: Pass interference is when a player makes contact and imposes another player’s ability to catch the football as the ball is in the air. Pass interference can be called on both the defense and offense but usually is called on a defender. Pass interference results in a 15-yard penalty.

Encroachment/offside: Encroachment is when a defensive player makes contact with an offensive player before the ball is snapped, resulting in a five-yard penalty. However, if there is a false start before the encroachment occurs, the false start takes precedence and is the only penalty called. Offsides is a similar defensive penalty, occurring when a defensive player is across the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.

Ineligible man downfield: Ineligible man downfield is an offensive penalty that usually occurs for offensive lineman. If a player numbered 50-79 is not allowed to catch a pass, and likewise is not allowed to go past the line of scrimmage for pass plays. When linemen cross the line of scrimmage they are then illegally downfield, resulting in a five-yard penalty. 

Illegal shift and illegal formation: Illegal shift and illegal formation penalties are called on the offense when they do not have seven players lined up on the line of scrimmage or have more than one player in motion at once. Only non-lineman are allowed to motion unless the offensive lineman moves to the backfield, stops and resets before his motion. Both illegal shift and illegal formation flags enforce a five-yard penalty.  

Targeting: Targeting is when a player hits a defenseless player in the head or neck area, or tries to tackle while leading with the top of their helmet. Targeting results in a 15-yard penalty and the player called for targeting is disqualified for four quarters, regardless if the game ends. If the game ends before the four-quarter suspension is served, the suspension is carried into the next game. Targeting was adopted by the NCAA in 2008; because the penalty is largely subjective, it is usually up to the referees to decide what constitutes targeting.

Roughing the passer: Roughing the passer is when a defensive player hits the quarterback either after the ball is thrown or hits the quarterback with unnecessary contact. Roughing the passer is a 15-yard penalty, and its priority is to protect the quarterback from late hits or hits to the head and lower legs.  

Season format

There are 134 teams that compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and these programs are eligible for postseason play. Most teams will play 12 games throughout the course of the season, with eight or nine coming against intra-conference opponents. At the end of the regular season, two teams from each conference will play in their conference’s championship game, with the winner from the Power 4 conferences — ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 — earning an automatic bid and a bye week in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The next seven highest ranked teams will also receive a spot in the playoff, with one spot reserved for the highest ranked Group of Five champion — the AAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Conference USA and MAC. Every other team who finishes with a .500 winning percentage (with some exceptions) will also get a chance to play in a bowl game to cap off its year. 

Coaching staff and recent trends

The Blue Devils are led by head coach Manny Diaz, in his first season with Duke. The program has been in flux for the last two seasons, finishing 8-5 in the 2023 season and 9-4 in the 2022 season. 2022 — former head coach Mike Elko’s first season with the Blue Devils — shocked Duke football fans with surprising successes including a 45-21 win against Miami. The 2023 season began with a bang, as the Blue Devils had an electric 28-7 win against Clemson, setting the tone for an exciting season. However, injuries hampered the team's success, and Elko decided to depart Durham for Texas A&M. However, after the hire of Diaz, Duke was able to close out the season with a 17-10 win against Troy in the Birmingham Bowl. Currently standing at 3-0, the Blue Devils seem to be in good shape with Diaz and a powerful offense led by Maalik Murphy, Jordan Moore and others.

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