Live in Iowa and no I am not a Hawkeye fan (Go Sooners!)

Anyway late in the game they try an onside kick. Iowa recovers the ball but is called for offsides.

On the replay it clearly shows that the Iowa football player has not actually broken the plane AND touched the ground physically with his foot.

Now my question is it offsides if the player breaks the plane of the free kick line with just his body but not touching the ground. I am trying to justify the call as it being the same as player lining up with his head over the line of the scrimmage (breaking the plane) but the rest of his body is okay.

I am doing a poor job of explaining this. Everybody in the sports bar was asking our crew and we all laughed and said it really never came down to that exact of question.

Most of us I will guess will toss the flag when the player actually has stepped across the line and is clearly out ahead of the kicker.

I do not know if it is different in Fed compared to NCAA.

My biggest gripe with the Hawkeye fans or probably any fan was the old "How can you make that call at that point of the game."

My response if it is a foul it is a foul no matter when it occurs.

Any commments appreciated.

NCAA: A player has to be behind the restraining line. There is nothing that says *and be touching the ground beyond* in the rules. Breaking the plane is all that is required.

Deep free kicks rarely will draw a flag when the head/chest are beyond, even a foot across will not usually draw a flag. However, short free kicks, specifically the "on-side" kicks will be tightly scrutinized.

Looked like it should hav ebeen a nocall to me.

Did you make your no-call before or after the replay?

Onside kicks will be called close, but deep ones usually not unless a foot is down. I am an Iowa fan, and still think it was called tight, but properly.

When I saw it live, I didn't see any offsides. Then they said there was a flag down, I was sure it wasn't kicking team offsides. I thought maybe the otherteam was offsides, then when the penalty was announced I was suprised. After seeing the replay I stayed with my initial ruling.

What kind of angle was provided? Down the restraining line would be the only useful one to see.

The camera angle was from R's restraning line, so 10 yards off. You could tell it was VERY close. The only one looking right down the line was the guy who threw the flag.

Well I know the replay angle was not the best to determine whether the call was correct, but I've replayed it quite a few times and the call still bothers me. First, the referee announced the wrong player number on the call. If that was actually the player that the official ruled to be offsides then the call was absolutely incorrect.

Now, the player above him (on your screen) was a tad closer and is where the judgement lies. He possibly had a toe or maybe a foot over the line when it was kicked but this is upon a frame by frame analysis which I know we don't have when we're on the field.

In my opinion with the time remaining, the score, and the fact that Iowa would've still had some work to do to even tie the game...should have been a no call.

The replay showed his right hand over the free kick line/ neutral zone (or whatever it is called in NCAA) prior to the kick.

It was tight but correct.

Imagine the outcry that we'd be hearing had he not called it and the IA went on and won. Getting the foul called is first. Getting the number isn't all that important. Just because the number is wrong doesn't mean a foul didn't happen. Too many people get tied up on what the commentators say. That guy had no clue what offside is. He was so tied up on the players feet being behind the line, when in fact it doesn't have anything to do with the feet. Not a great angle, but it certainly appeared the players head had broken the plane of the restraining line, so a correct call is offside.

Ugh!

Please stay off the field when I'm working. If you're going to make judgements about how hard it might be for the kicking team to score affect your judgement about whether or not to make the call, you have no business on the field.

If he was across the restraining line on an on-sides kick, there's no question it should have been called. Honestly, this is a hard call to get WRONG - you're watching the ball and the line, if at any point you can't see the ball, it's because someone has crossed the line before it was kicked. I'm sure that if he threw the flag, the player was across.

REPLY: I'm at a disadvantage since I didn't see the play, but I will echo what Theisey and MJT have said: On a short kick (especially an onsides kick) call this one tightly. When the kick is deep, be more liberal. Don't allow K an advantage just because he was only a "little" offsides.

Like most of you I've worked the reatraining lines many times. It has to be pretty blatant for me to flag it because, especially in hs, it happens quite a bit. I think the official in the Iowa game was plumbing!

I didn't see the offside live nor did I see it on the replay. Maybe he was a split second over the line, but he was not over enough to justify a flag. I honestly do not beleive that Florida would have argued that a flag wasn't thrown.
When you add the helmet to helmet call from earlier in the game that should not have been called and led to a Gator TD...you have a game where the officials had too much of a hand in deciding the outcome.