Offensive Pass Interference

[Rich]

Originally Posted by bossman72

Then how come i never see a missed field goal (even one that comes up short) have the ball start at the 20 (as it would for a touch back)? Do teams have the option of taking it at the previous line of scrimmage on a missed field goal? I'm not trying to be an a$$, i'm just confused.

Watch more Friday night football and less Sunday afternoon football.

[refbuz]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

FG attempts are more easily blocked than punts. The kick is closer to the LOS, the kick starts out lower, and the trajectory of the kick is lower.

True, but unlike a try, if it gets blocked it can still be advanced for a 1st down if recovered behind the LOS. Granted the odds of that happening after a block are slim, but I'd be willing to take my chances if i were a coach.

[Warrenkicker]

Originally Posted by bossman72

...Plus the drop kick is outdated since place kicks are 1000x more accurate. Warrenkicker can probably give us a better explanation on why...

BECAUSE IT'S FREAKING HARD!!!!!

I never could really get the hang of it. When kicking is all you have to do for hours a day, day after day, you start to find distractions like attempting to drop kick. For all of us kickers and punters it turned out that the long snapper was the best at it. The timing of it is huge. I could make them every once in a while from 30 or 35 but more of them shot off to the right. I even tried to punt and was the second team punter for one season but again there is a big timing issue there. When the ball is moving it is more difficult. For placekicks the ball is stationary and thus it is much easier to control the direction.

Originally Posted by bossman72

Then how come i never see a missed field goal (even one that comes up short) have the ball start at the 20 (as it would for a touch back)? Do teams have the option of taking it at the previous line of scrimmage on a missed field goal? I'm not trying to be an a$$, i'm just confused.

You obviously have been watching too many Sunday afternoons! If you're seeing officials do this in NF rules games, they are having that Sunday afternoon mentality also. I had a white hat in NF game a few years ago who was telling me the ball needed to go back to the original LOS and I said no, it went through the end zone (WIDE RIGHT! Sorry, couldn't resist to any Florida State fans!) therefore it's a touchback. He kept insisting it needed to go back to the LOS, which, if I remember right, was about the 30 or so. Finally, I just laid it on the 20 and he said he was going to call the assignor and say that I didn't know the rules. I gave him my infamous "I dare you" glare (ask any slow-pitch softball player in town who's seen it) and went on with my business. The assignor called me the next morning, and I told him my side. The assignor realized I was right, called the white hat back and ripped him a new one big time. That was also the last time I've seen the poor dude white hat a game.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by refbuz

True, but unlike a try, if it gets blocked it can still be advanced for a 1st down if recovered behind the LOS. Granted the odds of that happening after a block are slim, but I'd be willing to take my chances if i were a coach.

But you can say the same of a punt (or drop kick), so why is that an advantage of place kicking?

The advantage cited of accuracy is the only general advantage of place kicking I'd grant. It's always possible that a team at a given moment has a better place kicker than punter available, and it's possible that they might want the back spin that a place kick is more likely to have, but those are exceptional situations.

Robert

[bossman72]

Is this an NCAA rule as well??

[mikesears]

Originally Posted by bossman72

Is this an NCAA rule as well??

No. For NCAA ball goes back to original line of scrimmage unless snap was from inside the 20. Then it goes to the twenty.

Pro rule, ball goes to the spot of the kick unless inside the twenty. If inside the twenty, it goes to the twenty.

High School (NFHS). Field goal is the same as a punt.

[Forksref]

Originally Posted by bossman72

Then how come i never see a missed field goal (even one that comes up short) have the ball start at the 20 (as it would for a touch back)? Do teams have the option of taking it at the previous line of scrimmage on a missed field goal? I'm not trying to be an a$$, i'm just confused.

Depends on which level you are talking about. If you are watching a game on TV, it is likely to be college or pro which are different. In HS (Fed) ball, a missed FG that crosses the goal line is treated like a punt. It comes out to the 20, not the line of scrimmage.

Texas and Mass. use NCAA rules in HS in case you are seeing one of their games on TV.

[MNBlue]

Originally Posted by bossman72

Then how come i never see a missed field goal (even one that comes up short) have the ball start at the 20 (as it would for a touch back)? Do teams have the option of taking it at the previous line of scrimmage on a missed field goal? I'm not trying to be an a$$, i'm just confused.

That's a Sunday rule. I don't do NCAA, but I don't think that is their rule either.

Here is the NFHS rule:

Rules & Cases Directory
Football Rules Book 2006
Rule 6: Kicking the Ball and Fair Catch
Section 3: Touchback
Article 1


Art. 1... It is a touchback if any free kick or scrimmage kick:
a. Which is not a scoring attempt or which is a grounded three-point field-goal attempt, breaks the plane of R’s goal line, unless R chooses a spot of first touching by K.
b. Which is a three-point field-goal attempt, in flight touches a K player in R’s end zone, or after breaking the plane of R’s goal line is unsuccessful.

[bossman72]

ok thanks guys!