SEC officiating rules test: Could you be a college referee?

Have you ever been watching a college football game and witnessed a blown call? Of course you have. Have you ever seen a blown call and thought that you could do a better job? I’d be surprised if you said no. Now, you will actually have the chance to see what kind of officiating chops you have by taking the referee test for the Southeastern Conference officials.

Thanks to al.com, we have gathered a copy of the test that SEC officials must take to successfully pass their evaluation. The questions that are include feature just 10 of the 25 questions from the actual test, but you can still get an idea of how you would stack up against the current SEC referees.

In order to completely answer the questions below, you must answer the following parts of the question:

• Team in possession
• Down and distance (or Free Kick or Try)
• Yard line of succeeding spot
• Game clock status (Ready/Snap/Running/Free Kick Rules/No Clock/10-Second Runoff)

Here are the questions:

Question 1. With 2nd and 7 at the defense’s 32-yard line, the quarterback drops back to pass. The receiver is airborne near the sideline when he receives and has firm control of the ball. He would have landed inbounds at the defense’s 18-yard line, but a defender knocks him across the sideline so that he first touches out of bounds. The clock reads 2:00 left in the game.

Question 2. 1st series in overtime: The offense has 4th and 10 at the defense’s 25-yard line, and their field goal attempt is blocked. The ball does not cross the neutral zone, and an offensive player recovers the ball at the defense’s 30-yard line and advances to the 12-yard line where he is tackled.

Question 3. With 1st and 10 at the offense’s 30-yard line, the quarterback throws a pass that is complete at the 50. The receiver runs to the defense’s 35-yard line and is downed. A defensive player was guilty of grabbing and turning an offensive player’s facemask at the line during the pass.

Question 4. With 2nd and 20 at the 50, the quarterback drops back to pass. While the quarterback is in the pocket, a receiver is held by a defender at the defense’s 40-yard line. The quarterback cannot find a receiver and turns upfield and gains 5 yards to the defense’s 45-yard line.

Question 5. The offense has 4th and 5 at the defense’s 20-yard line. On a sweep, an offensive player fumbles at the defense’s 16-yard line and the ball rolls to the 10-yard line, where a defensive player bats the ball out of bounds at the 5-yard line.

Question 6. The offense punts with 4th and 10 from the defense’s 45-yard line. The punt strikes the ground at the defense’s 1-yard line and bounces in the air and breaks the plane of the goal line. Before the ball hits the ground, an offensive player bats the ball back into the field of play and it rolls out of bounds at the 2-yard line. During the kick, a defensive player holds at the defense’s 25-yard line.

Question 7. On a try from the defense’s 3-yard line, a defensive player is lined up in the neutral zone at the snap. The kick is blocked, and a defensive player recovers and downs the ball at the defense’s 14-yard line. After the play, an offensive player commits a personal foul.

Question 8. The offense is lined up to kick off from its 35-yard line and is in an obvious onside kick formation. The ball is kicked along the ground, and as it nears the offense’s 45-yard line, it takes a big hop and bounces over three receivers at the 46-yard line that have aligned shoulder to shoulder so that there is no more than 2 yards between these adjacent players. The defense recovers the kick at the 50.

Question 9. The offense has 3rd and goal at the defense’s 3-yard line. On a QB sneak, the quarterback fumbles the ball at the 2-yard line and the ball rolls into the end zone. A defensive player recovers the ball in the end zone, runs and is tackled with the front nose of the football in the field of play and the back of the ball still in the end zone. During the runback, another defensive player clipped an opponent at the 6-yard line.

Question 10. The offense has 2nd and goal at the defense’s 8-yard line. A defensive player intercepts a pass in the end zone and returns to the offense’s 36-yard line, where he runs out of bounds. A defensive player was lined up in the neutral zone on the play. After the play, the game clock reads 0:04.

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So how did you do? Scroll down for answers and share your scores in the comments section.