Editor’s note: This podcast was originally uploaded to Spotify on Dec. 11, 2024.
In this episode, Irene Roddy breaks down the basics of football for those who may not know a touchdown from a field goal. With playoffs around the corner, it’s the perfect time to brush up on your football knowledge, so you can fully enjoy the excitement of this high-stakes season. Photo by Skyler Sharp.
Irene Roddy: Welcome to Longhorn essentials, the show where we break down some essential bits of knowledge for all UT students to have. I’m Irene Roddy and today I’ll be tackling an SEC-sized challenge: football. I’ve attended every single home game so far in the 24-25 season, and at every home game I overhear, “Wait, what’s happening?” or “who’s that?” I’m here with Lauren Hightower, sports reporter for The Daily Texan, to answer those questions.
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Starting off with the official rules of the game. Football is played on a field 100 yards long with two teams of 11 players: the offense and the defense. Any given team’s offensive line and defensive line are not made up of the same 11 players and will switch on and off the field as possession goes in and out. The offense’s goal is to move the ball at least 10 yards every four plays, or downs, to keep possession of the ball and score touchdowns at the end zones on each pole of the field. If they score a touchdown, they can kick the ball in the goalposts for an extra point for a total of seven points. The only other way to score points is through field goals: kicking the ball through the goalposts without scoring a touchdown for three points, and through safety’s: tackling the offense in the defense’s end zone for two points.
Lauren Hightower: You can score three points if you’re within the red zone the red zone is where it’s ideal for kickers to be able to kick a field goal.
Roddy: The two ways to move the ball down the field is by passing the ball to another player or by rushing or running the ball through the defense and down the field. The game is played over four, 15-minute quarters, but it’s important to note that football is not a fast game, because the clock only runs when the ball is in play, averaging four to seven seconds each down. Additionally, UT games will often stop for three to 3.5 minute intervals to account for ESPN or SEC commercial breaks.
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Roddy: Five notable positions to look out for when watching UT football are the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, linebacker, and kicker. The quarterback is the leader of the offensive line, responsible for calling and making the plays. According to Lauren, the QB position carries the most amount of misconceptions:
Hightower: The QB is just one aspect of the offense. I think that it’s really easy to blame the QB whenever something goes wrong because they’re the forefront of the offense, they’re the one leading the plays. If the QB is getting sacked within the first few seconds of the play you know the offensive line is crumbling.
Roddy: Our starting quarterbacks this season have been junior Quinn Ewers and freshman Arch Manning. The running back is the offensive player responsible for rushing the ball. The quarterback will often discreetly hand off the ball to this player, and the running back will… run… as far as he can before the defense tackles him. UT’s main running back is Jaydon Blue, who so far this season has collected 315 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. The wide receiver does just what the name implies: receives passes from the quarterback and then rushes for as many yards as possible before being tackled. Isaiah Bond is UT’s notable wide receiver, who actually transferred from the University of Alabama in spring 2024. On the defensive line, linebacker is the key position: responsible for defending against running plays and covering receivers. Sophomore Anthony Hill Jr. is our star linebacker, most notably this season sniping a 32 yard interception during the game against University of Louisiana, Monroe and being named SEC co-defensive player of the week in early October. Lauren thinks fans should pay special attention to the defense:
Hightower: I think that Texas defense deserves a lot of credit this season, especially against Georgia. I mean, I think that we just weren’t able to get things started off instantly against Georgia and so that really hurt us because it put the defense on the field a lot more. It just wore the defense down. But getting, what, four interceptions against Georgia? That’s crazy.
Roddy: Finally, the kicker. Part of a specialty team that is designed only to kick for field goals and extra points, senior Burt Auburn is UT’s standout. He currently sets the school record for field goals made in one season (29) and points scored by a kicker (143).
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Roddy: Football is a contact sport. With that, comes strict rules on fouling and penalties. The two main kinds of fouls are gameplay fouls and personal fouls. Gameplay fouls are rule violations that are punished with a penalty. Typically, fouls are penalized with yards. On offense, the team has to move back the allocated number of yards, meaning they have to move those yards in addition to the original 10 in four downs. On defensive fouls, the offensive line gets moved up the allocated number of yards and are sometimes given an automatic first down, meaning they’re closer to the end zone and they still have all four plays. The most common gameplay fouls you’ll see at a UT football game are false start, pass interference, and holding. False start is flagged when an interior offensive lineman moves before the ball is snapped and the play begins, often penalized with a 5-yard deduction. Pass interference is a defensive foul, penalized with 10 yards.
Hightower: Defensive pass interference is when the ball is being thrown to a wide receiver or to someone else on the field, and a defensive player somehow interferes with the pass.
Roddy: Holding is the most common and most controversial gameplay foul because it can be called on both the offense and the defense. Offensive holding occurs when a player uses his body to prevent a defensive player from tackling. Oftentimes during UT games, the student section is not happy when offensive holding is called on us because it can be a subjective call and has a harsh 10-yard penalty. Defensive holding is when a defensive player tackles or holds an offensive player that does not have the ball. This is penalized with 5 yards and an automatic first down. Personal fouls are different because they’re fouls penalized for illegal physical contact that endangers other players, rather than for breaking the rules. They are more controversial because they have harsher penalties and are generally more intense fouls. Two of the most prominent personal fouls are face mask calls and targeting. Face mask fouls occur if any player grabs any other player’s mask for any reason, and it’s a 15-yard penalty. Targeting is the most intense foul in football; it’s called when a player makes forcible contact with a defenseless opponent, penalized with 15 yards and a first down. It can also sometimes, if called in the second half, result in players being tossed from the game and the next game. You do NOT want to be caught with a targeting call. But how do you know the call of the field is the right call?
Hightower: It gets a little bit tricky with being able to tell. Its def gotten a lot more accurate with being able to replay and review calls but I think that sometimes – you know sometimes they put it up on the board and you’re like, ‘Oh that was not,’ and sometimes you see and you’re like, ‘Aw guys, I think we should calm down. I think maybe they were right on that one.’
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Roddy: Now that you know all about the rules of football, what the positions are, who our players are, and how fouls work, let’s talk about the ever-confusing rankings and NCAA College Football Championships. Everyone’s always talking about how we were No. 1 for six weeks, so what does that mean? These ‘rankings’ that people are referring to are the Associated Press college football rankings. Associated Press has been using data gathered from its sportswriters and sports broadcasters to create the poll each week science 1936. While it’s an age-old tradition and is taken seriously within the college football world, it’s important to know that it doesn’t actually MEAN anything when it comes to playoffs. Playoffs are determined by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. At the end of the season, the committee selects 12 teams to go to the playoffs, of these, at least four will be conference champions. They select from the pool of conference champions based off ranking. These four teams will receive a week one bye, or pass, to the next round of play. The teams seeded 5-12 will play in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team. From here, it’s a traditional tournament until the national winner is determined. Who’s slated to be in the playoff this season? There’s kind of no way to know.
Hightower: It’s crazy how quickly college football changes.
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Roddy: Thank you guys so much for tuning in to Longhorn Essentials.
