OT: OK St player onside kick fair catch rule
Posting because this is a play that could have potential ramifications in a close game for any team. Have never seen this before and didn't realize fair catch protection extended to a ball that had already bounced.
For those who don't want to open article:
-Texas Tech scored TD on opening drive. Seemingly recovered ensuing onside kick, but OK St player signaled for fair catch. Per NCAA rule:
A fair catch of a free kick is a catch by a Team B player who has made a valid signal during an untouched free kick.” Additionally, the rule book states that “during a free kick, a player of the receiving team in position to receive the ball has the same kick-catch and fair-catch protection whether the ball is kicked directly off the tee or is immediately driven to the ground, strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of the ball kicked directly off the tee.
Video of kick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht1yxwCmReg
Pretty important play for coaches to know as this basically could eliminate trying to kick the ball into the ground to bounce an onside kick high in order to recover, and limits you really to just the dribble kick and hope for the best.
October 8th, 2022 at 5:57 PM ^
Well, that kind of ruins the fun.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:20 PM ^
I like it. I think the onside kick is a scam that gives the inferior team a gambler's chance to induce and benefit from chaos with nothing to lose. In these situations, the kicking team has nothing to lose. No other sport has anything like it where a team can randomly grab a last gasp at life that their play hasn't earned them. While it's exciting, it's completely unfair.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:25 PM ^
This was in the first quarter. No risk?
Also fouling at the end of the game in basketball? Pulling your goalie in hockey? Not exactly the same but gives the team behind a better chance.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:47 PM ^
Look, I'll give you that an early onside kick got Scott Frost fired. So, there's that. But, 99% of onside kicks are at the end, when the kicking team has nothing to lose. Whereas, fouling at the end of basketball sucks for the fan, but doesn't really give any randomly unfair advantage. But yes, I'd like to see that eliminated, by allowing the fouled team to take the ball out of bounds again, if they wish, because it sucks and isn't playing basketball. As for pulling the goalie, seriously? Apples and oranges. Pulling the goalie is what your girlfriend who's now your wife did with her birth control when she got sick of your fear of commitment.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:13 PM ^
That took a hard right turn into the land of negs
October 8th, 2022 at 7:15 PM ^
Oh man. How will I sleep tonight and face my kids in the morning with internet negs. Unbearable. I'll never get laid again.
October 8th, 2022 at 9:12 PM ^
I dunno, based on your attitude I'd be surprised if you ever got laid in the first place.
October 8th, 2022 at 8:37 PM ^
Interesting choice of analogy there, guy.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:56 PM ^
I disagree...but if you eliminated an onside kick and gave a team a 4th and goal from the 10 it would be interesting.
Offense gets it...they don't get points but they get the ball at the 50.
Defense gets a stop, that team gets the ball at the 50.
Maybe call it 4th and 15...I dunno.
October 8th, 2022 at 10:52 PM ^
Amazingly ... Devin Gardner was doing the color commentary, and he is the first person to indicate that the receiving team player signaled for a fair catch.
Excellent job DG !!! Go Blue!
October 8th, 2022 at 7:04 PM ^
We attempted (and recovered) an onside kick during the Braylonfest comeback. Ergo it is a legit play.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:13 PM ^
We also lost to #1 Miami in 1988 on an onside, after dominating the game, because Miami got an absolutely perfect bounce (dumb, random luck) or we'd have defeated #1 and probably the best team in CFB that year.
October 8th, 2022 at 9:10 PM ^
You can't lose the game by a team recovering its own onside kick. We lost the game by giving up points.
October 8th, 2022 at 10:50 PM ^
My kids Varsity team executed one last night to win our homecoming against our "OSU" so it's legit.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:23 PM ^
Hockey: Pull goalie
Basketball: Foul to get more possessions
Baseball: Pinch hit/run
October 8th, 2022 at 7:35 PM ^
The onside kick is a play to force a fumble. How would you change the rule? Must go 15 yards? Receiving team can elect to take the ball on the 25 without a kick?
My favorite irritation is an inferior team going for it on 4th down 3 sets of downs in a row to hang onto the ball to win the game in a desperate series of go for broke plays to win.
Every sport has its desperation strategy.
October 8th, 2022 at 8:43 PM ^
October 9th, 2022 at 12:30 AM ^
In Rugby you can only call 'mark' (like a fair catch) within your own 22 meter line. That's more like a traditional fair catch.
Don't know of a rule that helps safely get short kicks, other than the one preventing defenders from hitting players in the air (which is why rugby players sometimes lift each other to catch short kicks)
October 12th, 2022 at 11:49 PM ^
On kickoff the ball must go ten meters. After that it is a free ball, much like an onside kick.
October 8th, 2022 at 9:09 PM ^
You must hate Hail Marys, hook-and-lateral plays, and really anything else exciting that happens at the last second. You play 60 minutes and you do what you can to win during those 60 minutes. This take is garbage.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:45 AM ^
How do you feel about pulling the goalie for 6 on 5?
October 8th, 2022 at 6:01 PM ^
JayBaugh is on it.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:02 PM ^
Recipe for success is already on tape
October 8th, 2022 at 6:02 PM ^
Interesting. Harbaugh would run it into a stacked box though. ;)
October 9th, 2022 at 12:47 AM ^
You mean the B1G champion Harbaugh?
October 8th, 2022 at 6:05 PM ^
That's a BS rule that needs to be changed. Makes the chance of recovering an onside kick almost impossible now.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:44 PM ^
You still have to catch it though, if it comes to you. If you signal fair catch and muff the ball, it's live.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:10 PM ^
Bad rule - kicking into the ground should negate the fair catch option due to the inherent uncertainty of the ball's travel.
October 8th, 2022 at 6:17 PM ^
Good thing the rule specifically states that the fair catch signal is only valid if the kick is ”immediately driven to the ground, strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of the ball kicked directly off the tee.”
October 8th, 2022 at 6:40 PM ^
ignore me
October 8th, 2022 at 6:10 PM ^
That’s not a well thought out rule
October 8th, 2022 at 6:21 PM ^
Interesting twist
October 8th, 2022 at 6:24 PM ^
Notice the “strikes the ground once” portion. In other words, once the ball hits the ground the second time, fair catch protection no longer applies.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:00 PM ^
Devin Gardner on the call!? Nice.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:19 PM ^
Unless I'm missing something, this doesn't seem like that big a deal. Even without this rule, if the receiving team fields it cleanly, they just fall to the ground, play over. What's different about this? With an onside kick you're hoping the ball takes an awkward bounce making it difficult to field cleanly. Regardless whether they wave for a fair catch or not, if it bounces off their face mask and is live, the kicking team can recover it.
(Yes, I get it, if they wave you can't immediately crash into them hoping to knock the ball loose. A slight change of odds away from the kicking team. On the other hand, with the ball flying at a player only ten yards away he's going to take the time to wave his hands above his head? Slight change of odds towards the kicking team. It's a wash).
October 8th, 2022 at 8:10 PM ^
I think you're missing the very situation that transpired in the Texas Tech v. OSU game to which the OP linked:
The kicking team recovered the ball after it went ten yards but before anyone on the receiving team touched the ball. However, because the player on the receiving team called for a fair catch while the ball was heading towards him, it then became necessary that he be allowed to attempt to catch the kick cleanly. Because the ball never made it to him, the kicking team was penalized.
October 8th, 2022 at 8:15 PM ^
If you watch the video you will see what the big deal is. The kicking team popped it up, receiving team waived fair catch & kicking team caught it cleanly off the bounce which would, normally, be their possession but because the receiving team called fair catch they got possession instead.
It's very difficult to work successfully execute an onside kick & this rule eliminates one way to get the ball.
Props to Devin Gardner, on the broadcast, for knowing the rule
October 8th, 2022 at 9:02 PM ^
Exactly, watch the video. Gardner explains 'it's a new protection they added a few years ago...'
The protection being a kick immediately bounced into the ground and popped up in the air is eligible for fair catch protection (until the ball hits the ground a second time).
It would be important for the kicking team to know, in order to not try a kick like this, bc it almost completely eliminates your opportunity for recovery, barring a muff by the receiving team.
It's important for the receiving team to know for the same reason. As the OK St player smartly did, you can signal for a fair catch, which forces the kicking team to allow you to catch the ball uncontested.
OK St got the ball where it was touched by the kicking team illegally, plus 15 yards for the fair catch interference penalty.
October 8th, 2022 at 7:28 PM ^
Dumb rule
October 8th, 2022 at 8:09 PM ^
I didn't watch the game. I thought a fair catch on kickoffs was only allowed inside the 25 yd line.
Did Okla St get the ball on the 25 yd line? Or the 35 with the penalty?
October 8th, 2022 at 8:31 PM ^
You can fair catch any kick, whether it be kickoff or punt, as long as you catch them out of the air. Once they hit the ground, no more fair catching.
The 25 yard thing just allows you to effectively treat everything from the 25 yard line and closer as the end zone. If you fair catch a kickoff anywhere inside the 25 yd line, it comes out to the 25. If you fair catch anywhere beyond that, you get the ball at the spot you caught it. (Note: this 25 yard thing only applies to kickoffs, not punts)
edit: I’m not sure where the ball got placed after the penalty. Not sure how to apply the penalty. My wild ass guess is that the receiving team would get the ball at the place where the kicking team first touched it.
October 8th, 2022 at 9:03 PM ^
Normally you can only fair catch a kick that hasn't hit the ground. However as Gardner states in the video, a rule was added a few years ago for player safety. A ball kicked immediately into the ground off the tee has fair catch protection, until it hits the ground a second time. Basically this eliminates the onside kick attempt where you try to kick it into the ground to get a high bounce, because the receiving team can just signal for a fair catch which gives them protection to catch the ball uncontested. It forces kicking teams to really only try the dribble kick or Waterboy rocket it off of one of the opposing players.
OK St got the ball where it was touched by the kicking team illegally, plus 15 yards for the fair catch interference penalty.
October 8th, 2022 at 9:34 PM ^
Most teams kick it toward the sideline and go for the two-skips-then-a-bounce style. That’s fin, and no fair catch is allowed on that when it pops up.
October 8th, 2022 at 8:26 PM ^
This rule isn’t complicated. Once the ball lands, the ball is live. Period. What this rule effectively says is that driving the ball directly into the ground to get the ball to immediately pop up is the same as trying to chip-shot it. That’s all.
The typical “skip-skip-pop” style onside kick cannot be fair caught.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:47 AM ^
This rule came into play during the Ohio State game last year. Michigan scored on its opening drive, and on the ensuing kick-off, Bucky called for fair catch, but allowed the ball to bounce once before catching at the four yard line. The Fair Catch was effective to ward off any aggressive action against the receiver. However, by rule, the ball did not come out to the 25 yard line. Instead, Bucky had to start its drive at the 4.