Result of the play is............????

[bigwhistle]

B1 is set to receive a punt. While the punt is in the air, B2 blocks A1 in the back. The force of this block causes A1 to bump into B1, who then muffs the punt. After the muff, A2 recovers the ball.

Should this be A's ball, or should there be offsetting fouls? In other words, the major question is whether or not the illegal block by B2 which caused A1 to interfere with the reception of the kick is a foul or not (NCAA). I can find references to similar plays on roughing the passer situations and roughing the kicker situations, but not on kick catch interference situations. If you have an answer please give appropriate rule.

[JasonTX]

It is not a foul since he was blocked into the Team B player. This is covered under 6-4-1-b. Team A will decline the penalty for B's block in the back and take the ball.

[bigwhistle]

Thanks for the citation. So does this mean that team A will get to keep the ball, or is the B received deemed to have been blocked into the ball and therefore his touching disregarded?

Or, with a slightly different twist, if the block that forced a player into the receiver was legal, would B1 been deemed to have touched the ball and A would regain possession by his recovery?

[JasonTX]

Whether or not the block was legal or illegal plays no role in whether the Team B player was forced into the ball. If A comes right out on his own and blocks B into the ball then he is deemed to have not touched the ball. My theory is that A didn't force him into the ball since the A player was blocked by the B player. I'd say A keeps the ball since B was the one that caused all this ruccus.