Interesting fair catch rule today

#1
J

J C Higgins

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2017
Messages
1,157
Likes
1,942
#1
First: Kudos to our coaches and players. A HUGE win for not only this season's record but for the program in general.

Interesting event:

In the Ok St game Texas Tech tried an onside kick. One of the Ok St players immediately called for a fair catch which made any Texas Tech player ineligible to recover it. And in addition they received a penalty for interfering with a fair catch.

This will be copied by every team until the rule is changed.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 67Vol, CSVol, SAPPER 5 and 18 others
#5
#5
J C Higgins said:
First: Kudos to our coaches and players. A HUGE win for not only this season's record but for the program in general.

Interesting event:

In the Ok St game Texas Tech tried an onside kick. One of the Ok St players immediately called for a fair catch which made any Texas Tech player ineligible to recover it. And in addition they received a penalty for interfering with a fair catch.

This will be copied by every team until the rule is changed.
Click to expand...

If that was permissible everyone would’ve been doing it
 
#8
#8
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP, HeadVol77, 08Vol and 1 other person
#9
#9
mtvols said:
Can you call a fair catch if the ball hits the ground?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure pro or NCAA one in the last few years made a one bounce in front of the tee kickoff eligible to be received as a fair catch. But for the life of me don't know which one. Stuck in my head for some reason. ANYBODY know for sure? Not trusting my aging recall like I did in my younger years. Soon after you started seeing those dribblers in front of the kicker to get multiple bounces on the field.
 
#10
#10
According to the NCAA rule book, “a fair catch of a free kick is a catch by a Team B player who has made a valid signal during an untouched free kick.” Additionally, the rule book states that “during a free kick, a player of the receiving team in position to receive the ball has the same kick-catch and fair-catch protection whether the ball is kicked directly off the tee or is immediately driven to the ground, strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of the ball kicked directly off the tee.”

Wow. I had no idea the rule was worded this way. Amazing we have not been seeing this on each onside kick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc, Sarms58 and RiverVol
#12
#12
tnburban said:
Article as it states now is not accurate. Ball did not hit the ground. Kicker tried a pooch/chip kick and the fair catch rule applies. A "traditional" onside kick immediately hits the ground which nullifies the fair catch provisions.
Click to expand...
Not sure there is an official description of an "onside" kick. From what is described any kickoff or kick after a safety is a "free kick" and the rules for free kicks are the same whether the ball is place kicked or punted and not dependent on when the ball touches the ground.

Don't know but that's the way it sounds and if so somebody finally realized they could use the rule to prevent the kicking team from successfully executing an "onside" kick.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77
#13
#13
What would happen if the ball doesn’t immediately hit the geound, like Floridas onside kick against us? The ball hit the ground, but not immediately.
 
#14
#14
B81 said:
What would happen if the ball doesn’t immediately hit the geound, like Floridas onside kick against us? The ball hit the ground, but not immediately.
Click to expand...
Yeah immediately isn’t really a good word to use, since it obviously can’t happen literally immediately. I assume they mean the ball takes a downward trajectory towards the ground off of your foot.
 
#15
#15
CincinnatiVols said:
Yeah immediately isn’t really a good word to use, since it obviously can’t happen literally immediately. I assume they mean the ball takes a downward trajectory towards the ground off of your foot.
Click to expand...
Don't know but from the wording it seems like a receiving team member could wave his arm at the instant the ball leaves the kickers foot and it would be be declared a fair catch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#16
#16
J C Higgins said:
Don't know but from the wording it seems like a receiving team member could wave his arm at the instant the ball leaves the kickers foot and it would be be declared a fair catch.
Click to expand...
If the ball skips across the ground, meaning it hits more than once, it can't be fair caught. If it's kicked hard into the ground for a single big bounce, it can be fair caught.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpookyAction
#19
#19
Kristy* said:
"or is immediately driven to the ground, strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of the ball kicked directly off the tee."
Click to expand...
May be correct but any ball immediately driven to the ground isn't going to stay in the spot where it first strikes the ground so that kind of kicked ball would always be "skipping".
 
Last edited:
#22
#22
J C Higgins said:
May be correct but any ball immediately driven to the ground isn't going to stay in the spot where it first strikes the ground so that kind of kicked ball would always be "skipping".
Click to expand...
That's actually not true. The rule came about 5 or 6 seasons ago when kickers were basically kicking the top of the ball to mimic the lofted jump-ball style kick. And there were no protections for the front line hands team guys, so they were getting mugged.
 
#23
#23
37620VOL said:
I'm guessing we'll see more of the "spinner" type onside kicks.[/QUOTE

Again I don't know but from the rules stated in that article it doesnt seem to matter how it's kicked....it's just a free kick like any kickoff or free kick after a safety.

The way I interpret it is that as soon as the ball leaves the toe of the kicker, regardless of the way it's kicked or the path it travels, a receiving team member can signal a fair catch and that prevents the kicking team from being eligible to touch the ball.
Click to expand...
 
#24
#24
Watched the replay but did not actually see if the player did or did not make a fair catch signal. One of the most IGNORED rules in all of football is requiring a valid signal...

Here is the rule....

Valid Signal ARTICLE 2. A valid signal is a signal given by a player of Team B who has obviously signaled their intention by extending one hand only clearly above their head and waving that hand from side to side of their body more than once.

Too many prom waves getting by.
 
#25
#25
Just read the official NCAA rules regarding kicks and fair catches. The term "onside" kick isn't even present in the rules so any rule that applies to a free kick would apply to what is commonly referred to as an "onside kick". An "onside" kick is just a "short" kick.
So according to the rules regardless of what the kicking team intends to do a free kick is a free kick and fair catches are therefore not limited to punts or "long" kickoffs.
 
New Posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

Advertisement



Back
Top