College (NAIA) scenario

[DLH17]

I'm not a college official, but I am a fan of my local NAIA team. This play occurred a couple of Saturday's ago. This description was lifted from an NAIA fan forum. What do you college officials have based on the info presented?

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"Early in the Wildcats at Vikings game, Vikings force a punt. The punt is blocked. The loose ball rolls into the end zone. A CSC player bats the ball forward, out onto the field of play, where the ball was recovered by the Wildcats.

Instead of giving the Vikings an option, the referee signaled safety. The Valley special team just made a great play, and, in my eyes, ended up being penalized. I know it was an illegally-batted ball, but in this instance, shouldn't the team blocking the punt get some kind of choice? It seems to me the Wildcats were rewarded for making two bad plays on one snap."

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[Welpe]

Team B can decline the penalty in this case and accept the result of the play. It is unlikely but the R may have gotten word from the sideline that they wanted the safety. Hard to say without seeing it for sure.

I'm assuming CSC was the team punting in this situation?

[JRutledge]

They may have given the option and it was not much of a conversation. Often times coaches do not take their time to make a decision. Then again some officials assume that choice is obvious, because it is what they think is best.

Peace

[DLH17]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Team B can decline the penalty in this case and accept the result of the play. It is unlikely but the R may have gotten word from the sideline that they wanted the safety. Hard to say without seeing it for sure.

I'm assuming CSC was the team punting in this situation?

Yes, C-SC was the K team.

Penalty? Illegal batting/touching by the K team?

[Welpe]

Yes, the penalty is illegal batting. Enforced from the spot of the foul in this case.

[Trap]

I'm confused who is who. But what I think the question is there was a penalty for illegal batting in the end zone, thus the saftey. But because they batted it out, he want to know if the receivers could decline the penalty and take the ball at where they recovered it and go on offense.

[DLH17]

Originally Posted by Trap

I'm confused who is who. But what I think the question is there was a penalty for illegal batting in the end zone, thus the saftey. But because they batted it out, he want to know if the receivers could decline the penalty and take the ball at where they recovered it and go on offense.

Yes.

(C-SC Wildcats are K)

[Texas Aggie]

The foul is an illegal bat, which is a basic spot foul (in this case, enforced from the spot OF THE FOUL -- the end zone) and would result in a loss of down and safety if enforced. Team B should have been given an option to decline the penalty and take the ball where they recovered it. R would only signal a safety if Team B accepted the penalty.

What is the Fed rule here? Not that its relevant to this play, but I'm wondering if the crew worked Fed Friday night and forgot the NCAA rule on Saturday.

[DLH17]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Yes, the penalty is illegal batting. Enforced from the spot of the foul in this case.

Since the spot of the foul was in K's end zone, the enforcement is a safety? Not from the spot of the ball in the field of play (in this case, near the 5 yd line)?

(Sorry, I'm still not fully understanding the enforcement and/or options for the Vikings, if any, in this scenario.)