Expert: Thom Brooks - 1/2/2009

Question
on jan1,2009,rose bowl....score usc38 penn st24...
penn st kicks off,ball goes into end zone and stops 8 yards in, free ball or touchack? in pros it's a free ball, they called it a touchback...nobody picked it up because ref signaled touchback

Answer
Joe, Happy New Year!

I've attached the rules of the NCAA.  Refer to Rule 8-6.  

If there is no new force (in college it's called Impetus) by the K team, the ball will be dead.  The R team can return the kickoff or elect to take it as a touchback and get the ball on the 20 yard line.

In the real world, sometimes an official's opinion is that neither team showed interest (and since the clock is not running until touched by the R team), then the ball would be blown dead.  The purpose is to make sure a team does not use the clock to the disadvantage of the other team.


Take care,

Thom Brooks



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