NCAA ball hits the rafters
 

NCAA game on Saturday. A punt goes really high in our indoor stadium. What is the ruling if it hits the ceiling? Our Big Sky officials observer was up high in the press box and said it came within a few ft. of the rafters. I was the red hat official on the field so I was able to ask the crew after the game. They said there is no rule but the general opinion is that there would be a replay of the down. Any thoughts?

If there is no rule, then certainly the elastic power rule would kick in, and so as long as there is some logic to your decision, it should be fine.

The NFL has said that they'd re-play the down including a clock reset, noting the large Dallas scoreboard. So if you went with that, people would easily accept it.

I'm surprised that there's not a "ground rule" to cover this, but assuming there's not, I'd replay the down using the IW provisions of the rules.

Would any of you see how much the carom affected the ball's flight, and then decide whether to ignore it?

Nope.

The officials shouldn't be looking at the ball's flight anyway, we've got players to watch.

If it hits the rafters you'll know easily enough. (just watch for the ultra-confused punt/kick returner).

This was my question too... what official saw it?

As the referee, I take a quick look at the ball after I clear the kicker to make sure it is not heading out of bounds. I think the R would catch it.

Not dogpiling... but why? Do you do something differently if it's headed out of bounds than you do if it's not?

Yes. Since I have to chop the spot where a punt goes out of bounds on the fly, it helps if I know where the ball goes out of bounds. To know whether the ball is heading out of bounds, I take a quick look at the direction of its flight. If I see it heading out of bounds, I'll follow it to give a reasonably good spot.

OK. I'll watch it on a shank... but on most punts, I watch my kicker, move to my spot (where the kick was from), watch the cleanup area for cheap shots, and then find the ball - using the actions of the players to guide me. I doubt I would ever see the ball before it's at least halfway down.

If the game is indoors, where there's no wind, couldn't you just draw a line from the spot of the kick to where it landed to determine where it went out of bounds? That is, if it wasn't a soccer style place kick that would typically have inswing.