2010 Season Week 3 Clips
Kickoff Illegally Touched and Goes Out of Bounds This play shows another rare occurrence which is definitely possible. Team A illegally touches a free kick at the A-44 and the ball then goes out of bounds at the A-41, untouched by Team B. The spot where the kick goes out of bounds is an important spot and that is where the flag should be. Unless it is also the spot of illegal recovery, the spot of illegal touching cannot be an enforcement spot for an accepted penalty on a live ball foul. The penalty for Team A's kick out of bounds should have been enforced at the dead-ball spot (10-2-4). Kudos to the covering official for bagging the illegal touch but he should stay with the dead ball spot and not walk away from it unless it is covered by someone else.
Blocking Below the Waist From a Scrimmage Kick Formation Blocking below the waist is not always illegal after Team A was in a scrimmage kick formation. The legality is dictated by what Team A does AFTER the snap. We need to wait and see what Team A does from the formation before we will know if the blocking below the waist is illegal. If they do not kick, there will be no foul for "simple" blocks below the waist. The prohibition against blocking below the waist requires there be a kick and that the kick be from a scrimmage kick formation (2-15-10). If either requirement is not met, there is no foul (9-1-2-e-4). All blocks below the waist are illegal after a change of team possession; example: after Team B catches or recovers a "quick kick."
PSK Fouls and Illegal Touches The punt bounces off a Team A player at the B-32. During the down, Team B committed a holding foul downfield. PSK foul penalties cannot be enforced from a spot of an illegal touch unless that is also the spot of illegal recovery. An accepted penalty for a live-ball foul wipes out the illegal touch spot. How should the penalty have been enforced?
Illegally Kicking the Ball Illegally kicking a loose ball is a foul that carries a loss of down penalty (9-4-4). The foul frequently occurs during a fourth down play which ends in a safety. Under those circumstances, the offended team may have a difficult choice to make, either safety or penalty enforcement. In this clip, had this been 4th down, penalty enforcement would net a 1st down for Team B very close to the goal line.
Batting a Scrimmage Kick in Team B's End Zone It is critically important for the covering officials to know if the ball has penetrated the goal line plane before it is batted back into the field of play. If the ball is batted in B's end zone, the covering official should drop a bean bag in the end zone. At the end of the down, team B may elect to take the ball at the B-20 - assuming nothing else happens on the play. If ball had hit the ground in the EZ before this bat, the play would have been over and touchback awarded.