Kickoff Out of Bounds
 

On a kickoff, a member of the kicking team touches the ball BEFORE the ball rolls out of bounds at the receiving team's 12 yard line.

The ball was kicked from the receiving team's 30 yard line because of the enforcement of apparently two personal foul penalties.

Where should the ball be spotted, first and ten?

R 12 yl

Kick out of bounds, 3 options.

I don't officiate football. I was watching the sophomore game that preceded the varsity game that I was broadcasting.

Could someone explain a little more thoroughly?

What he means by "Three Options" is that, if K (the kicking team) causes the ball to go out-of-bounds on a free kick (like a kickoff), then R (the receiving team) has three options. They can:

• Have the ball 1st and 10 at the spot where the ball went out of bounds (in this case, R's 12 yard line)
• Have the ball 1st and 10 at a spot 25 yards downfield from the free-kick line (the kick was from the 30, so in this case that would be R's 5 yard line); or
• Enforce a 5-yard penalty from the previous spot and rekick (now from R's 35 yard line).

Just so. Sorry, I was in a hurry and didn't have time to explain.

Usually the choice is obvious: in this case, I'd give the coach his options and let him choose. Probably won't pick option 2, but he might go with either of the other options.

Here's what happened...

The ball was spotted at the R 35 yard line, 1st and 10 for the receiving team. Misapplication?

Yes. They might have thought that was the option, rather than mtn335's correctly stated option 2. The R35 is 25 yards from the K free kick line prior to a penalty.

It's a common mistake to make, and not particularly surprising for a sub-JV game (where rookies patrol the sidelines and new white-hats earn their spurs). It's pretty easy to forget simply because, since a vast majority of free kicks occur at the K-40, the vast majority of free-kick-out-of-bounds fouls will have an option to place the ball at the R-35.

But yes, it was a misapplication. :p

Another reason I encourage rookies to learn the rules, not the shortcuts.

Are you talking college or high school?

Peace

"I was watching the sophomore game that preceded the varsity game that I was broadcasting."

Sounds as if they applied the option available when the kick was normally made from the K40.