Miami Hurricanes invite referees to practice in attempt to alleviate penalty problem

The Hurricanes had officials attend their Wednesday practice at Greentree Field, an addition especially needed because of the excessive penalties committed by Miami, 98th in the FBS in “fewest penalty yards per game.”

Golden said the presence of the officials provides immediate feedback so players know what they’re doing wrong.

Players have started doing up-downs for every penalty committed during games — 250 at a time for a game penalty and 50 for penalties in practice as position coach Art Kehoe watches his linemen.

“I had to do some [Wednesday],’’ guard Joe Brown said, referring to a false start in practice. “You gotta get it done, right? We do it as soon as practice is over.

“[Tuesday] we had I think eight guys doing up-downs for penalties. Some penalties we had this past game could have cost us.’’

Brown said coaches let players chip in and contribute up-downs to help their teammates decrease their total.

“A lot of us felt good about it,” he said, noting that it takes “probably 30 minutes” to do 250 of them.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Miami Hurricanes invite referees to practice in attempt to alleviate penalty problem."