Arkansas-Florida Muffed Punt
 

I'm sure all of our SEC fans saw the punt that was muffed by Arkansas and subsequently recovered for a TD by Florida. What got me to thinking about that play was the FoxSports message boards (more of a fan-board as the games are in progress), where a guy actually asked if the play should have been called a touchback.

I know that the play was called correctly according to NCAA as the ball is only ruled an immediate TB if the ball is untouched by R and enters the endzone, however had this been NF how many would have ruled a TB? The one thing that really sparked my interest in the play in question is that in trying to recover the muffed punt, R batted the ball around and somewhat toward the goal line. At this point I asked myself is this a new force outside of the punt that would cause this not to be a TB in NF?

Can anyone imagine a coach accepting the call without a huge fuss? I use the word "imagine" because I think it will take alot of imagination to invision a coach not blowing up.

I didn't see the play, but in NF, it is really easy, a kick, is a kick, is a kick, which means you have a TB if the kick is muffed and crosses the goal line.

One thing to keep in mind that with the muff, in NCAA if R recovers the ball in the end zone, it would've been ruled a TB.

But for Fed, like MJT said, no matter how the ball would've gotten there, it would still be a TB.

In the NCAA code, its only an automatic TB if the kick is untouched and hits the goal line or end zone area. As stated, its still a kick, though, so if the R team recovers in the end zone, its a TB as well.

I don't quite understand how Fed can say a muffed kick is a live ball when between the goal lines, but a TB if it goes into the EZ. If it goes out of the EZ, yes, that makes sense. But if its in the EZ and touched by R, it should be a live ball.

That would be a foul (NCAA; basic spot, foul behind GL), which would result in a safety if R recovered, or, of course, a TD (and declined penalty) if K recovered.

If R is, as you say, batting the ball around, then we have a flag for illegal batting. More likely, it was just a bunch of muffs.

But in either case it would be a touchback. Force is not a factor on kicks entering R's end zone, and it remains a kick until possessed or ruled dead.

Fed Rules that is a Touchback, no questions. A muff does not change the status of a kick, it is still and will be a kick regardless.

In NF, any kick that crosses the plane of the goal line is a touchback. You can't have a live "kick" in the end zone (other than a scoring attempt).

I guess using the phrase "batted the ball" was a bit misleading because it was more like a big continuous muff, and I would have likely called a TB had it been HS. Like I said though it sparked some thought in my mind and wanted to get some other perspectives on this type of play.

All of us, I hope.

Wouldn't you have?

Is a blocked kick (punt, primarily) still a kick in Fed (prior to recovery)? If so, and a kick is blocked from the field of play into the EZ, is it a TB?

REPLY: Answer to your first question--Yes it's still a kick. Answer to second question. If a blocked kick goes backwards into A's endzone and becomes dead there, it's a safety, unless of course it becomes dead in B's possession which would result in a TD. Just like NCAA. If it's blocked and still manages to go forward into B's endzone, it is a TB as soon as it penetrates the plane of the goal line.

... and you would have been correct as well under NF rules.
Now if you had ruled there was a bat, the result would still be the same.
However, you would also have a flag to deal with.