PSK or not? - NCAA

[With_Two_Flakes]

Originally Posted by JasonTX

Actually the requirement is that Team A does not have possession of the ball when the down ends.(10-2-2-e exception 3 e). A team is "in possession" when one of its players is "in possession" (2-2-5-b) In this play no team A player was in possession when the down ended.

Yeah, I did look that up the exact wording of 10-2-2-e, I was just lazy in how I paraphrased it in my post. I see where you are coming from regarding 2-2-5-b and its last phrase.

One argument could be that while that ball is loose inbounds that 2-2-5-b covers the situation, but once the ball is Out of Bounds, then 7-2-4-b covers it "... If a fumble is out of bounds behind a goal line, it is a touchback or safety". But then when you delve into Rule 8 about Touchback's it is interesting to note that Rule 8-6-2 use the words "belongs to", rather than "possession". So perhaps there is no change of Team possession in terms of 2-2-5 till the ball is legally snapped after the Touchback.

I've thought about this some more - trying to imagine myself on the field with 10 seconds to figure it out, rather than sat at my desk going through the Rule Book for 10 minutes....
I suspect that on the field, I'd enforce PSK as it would feel the most equitable since A did punt the ball away and you never like to give the ball back cheaply.

With my luck, this is going to happen in my next game (in 3 days time) so let's get an definitive answer quick!