Opening Kickoff: Ohio State Florida

[parepat]

Did anyone see this play? Ohio State kicks off. Ball touches initially at the 3; takes a bounce and touches in the endzone (on the GL); from there it bounces back into the field of play and out of bounds at the 1. No Florida (or Ohio State) player ever touched the ball.

[mbyron]

What was the ruling, and was it correct?

[parepat]

The ruling was free kick out of bounds-ball at 40. I thought it should be touchback (ball touched in end zone untouched by the receiving team). Anyone have an opinion?

[TXMike]

They did not show a replay so all we have is the one initial look. It is very close to the GL to be sure. Normally I would say that we defer to the guys in position to make the call. Unfortunately, for some unexplained reason, we had nobody on the GL. The L appeared to have been there but for some reason drifted along the sideline towards the end line. He started coming back to the GL but when it would have hit the GL he was not yet there on the GL. The R was deep and never got all the way up to the GL before that critical moment.

[Hooah30]

Not to hijack the thread, but the craziest call in that game was when they awarded Ohio State the fumble recovery when the ball was never recovered when the ball was live. On the last replay, audio was included and the ball was still loose (and had been for awhile) when the whistle was blown. I believe the review proved it to be a fumble what there was by no means an immediate recovery or any recovery at all for that matter.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by parepat

The ruling was free kick out of bounds-ball at 40. I thought it should be touchback (ball touched in end zone untouched by the receiving team). Anyone have an opinion?

The play is the opening kickoff, about :40 into the (11-minute) video.

[JasonTX]

If you pause the video at :49 it is very close to the goalline. Without seeing this from an better angle I would have to go with the call on the field. Even being where he was lined up at he should still be able to tell if the ball touched the goalline.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by JasonTX

If you pause the video at :49 it is very close to the goalline. Without seeing this from an better angle I would have to go with the call on the field. Even being where he was lined up at he should still be able to tell if the ball touched the goalline.

He might not have had the best conceivable view, but it looks like he had a damn good one. Had he been on the field-of-play side of the GL, he might've been screened out by the ball itself as to whether it hit the GL, but where he was he would've seen if there was space between the point where the ball hit and the stripe.

In NCAA, does the ball have to touch ground that is behind the front of the goal line to be dead (if an untouched free kick)? Or does the ball merely have to touch the ground and be in the end zone (i.e. part of the ball that's off the ground) simultaneously? If the latter, then he really would have needed a view on the goal line extended to make a close call; if the former, then his view was easily adequate.