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[I posted this on the NFHS board also, so some may have already seen it.]
REPLY: bisonlj hit the nail on the head as to why this play confuses people--simply they try to read too much into it. The acual governing rule is NF 4-3-2 which in part says, "If the ball touches a pylon, it is out-of-bounds behind the goal line." The key words "...behind the goal line" are enough to suggest that the Fed wants us to rule that the ball must have crossed the goal line prior to striking the pylon. That's sufficient to rule this play a touchback.
Remember that the pylon is just an artifical means of identifying the intersection of the goal line and sideline. The actual intersection has no real dimension...it's just a vertical line, just as the goal line and sidelines have no dimension either. We choose to make them 4" wide. But you have to give some dimension to the pylon so that we can see it! The rulesmakers decided that it should be 4" x 4". The fact that a 4" front exists does cause folks to overthink the ruling: Did it strike the front? Did it strike the inside face? Did the ball hit the front inside corner? It doesn't matter. For consistency,the Fed wants any ball that strikes the pylon to be deemed as having crossed the goal line and then gone out of bounds.
I actually think a better placement for the pylon would be on the goal line with its ouside face lining up on the inside edge of the sideline. In other words, have it be completely inbounds. Then no one would ever be confused again about a ball striking a pylon--loose or in player possession.
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Bob M.
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