Kickoff contact
 

NCAA College football

K11 kicks off into a strong wind. R1 jumps into the air to catch a short pooch kick(no fair catch signal) and is contacted by K1 before the ball arrives. K2 recovers at the R45 yard line. What is the result of this play?

Under the NFHS code, ONLY R can (legally) CATCH a FREE KICK. There are no exceptions. For K to be able to (legally) RECOVER a free kick, the ball must travel beyond the plane of R's free kick line AND touch the ground. (the two requirements may occur in any order).

If K touches a grounded FREE kick before it travels to R's FREE kick line, it's first touching, unless that grounded FREE kick has been touched by R, in which case the FREE kick will belong to whomever recovers it.

In the above play, K would have committed Kick Catching Interference (Whether a FC Signal was given, or not) R would have the choice of accepting a Fair Catch at the spot of the catch, or accepting a replay of the Kick after a 15 yard previous spot enforcement.

I was wondering if there are any differences with the college rules?

NCAA - Kick catch interference Team B is awarded the ball 15 yards from spot of foul