Onside kicks
 

I know that a kick must go at least ten yards before the kicking team can recover the ball. At what point can the kicking team no longer recover the ball? THANKS

The kicking team may recover a kick if two conditions are met -

1. The ball travels 10 yards
2. The ball touches the ground

These conditions may occur in any order.

If the receiving team is the first to touch the ball before it travels 10 yards then the kicking team may recover the ball.

If the kicking team is the first to touch the ball before it travels 10 yards the kicking team has committed first touching and the receiving team may choose to take the ball at the spot of the touching.

If the kicking team catches a kick in flight it's kick catching interference. The receiving team may put the ball in play at the spot of the foul; they may accept an awarded fair catch at the spot; or they can accept the foul and have the ball kicked again after marking off a 15 yard penalty.

Following the safety near the end of the Missouri/Kansas game, Kansas was required to kick from the 20 now trailing by 8 points and only 17 seconds remaining.

Why did they not attempt an onside kick? Is it not allowed per rule?

I don't officiate football, but do have some friends that do and know that there is a difference between a free kick and a scrimmage kick. I don't know which is which though. For example, I'm told that a team may use a tee on kick-offs (and FGs in HS, not sure about NCAA), but can't following a safety. So perhaps the rule about onside kicks differs as well.

Thanks for anyone who can state the rule with certainty.

I just can't believe that KU would not attempt the onside kick, if they could! That would be a crazy coaching error.

Under NCAA rules a team can attempt an onside kick on any free kick, and the kick after a safety is a free kick. Also, the free kick after a safety can be kicked from a tee (like any regular kickoff) or can be kicked from the hand (punt or drop-kick).

Either the coach made a tactical error here (maybe didn't know the rule?), or was simply trying to say we've given it our best and the game is over.

I was suprised KU didn't try it myself. Missouri was lined up to cover an onside kick. In most cases, coaches don't even consider an onsides kick after a saftey because it it's unsuccessful, he's given the ball to the opponent on his own 30, but KU had nothing to lose so why not give it a shot?

When it becomes dead. Once the conditions are established that make recovery by K legal, it stays legal, doesn't expire.

Your use of "no longer" suggests you have in mind NFL rules, where they made a rule change about 20 years ago and worded it historically (and dumbly), saying of the free kick following a fair catch, "This is no longer a free kick ball....", going on to say that K can't recover unless first touched by R.

Robert

Must've been "a crazy coaching error".

That one should be easy. A scrimmage kick is made during play from scrimmage (i.e. put in play by snap). A free kick is an awarded kick, "free" in the sense of not interfered with; the ball starts out dead and is put in play by that means. NFL didn't apply that term to kickoffs until recently, and so was the last USAn code to not consolidate all awarded kicks as "free", albeit with some rules differences.

Robert