This came up in a championship game here, I'd appreciate the thoughts of the group on this scenario:
K lines up in a legal free kick formation. K1 kicks the ball to the R-15, near the sideline. It bounces to the R-11 untouched, inches from the sideline, but does not go out of bounds.
As the coverage team advances, K15 is pushed out of bounds at the R-22. K15 continues down the sideline, out of bounds, to the R-11 and falls on the ball to recover it. As he lands on the ball, the ball is in-bounds and the top half of his body is in the field of play, while the bottom half of his body is still out of bounds.
In this scenario, K15 did not re-establish himself inbounds, and the ball was untouched by R. Under the rules, this is how I see it - but it has caused quite a bit of disagreement and discussion:
K15 did not re-establish himself inbounds, but proceeded OOB to the ball, therefore we have a flag for illegal participation. Further, under rule 2-29-3 (A loose ball is out of bounds when it touches anything, including a player or game official that is out of bounds.), with K15 being out of bounds when he touches it, the ball is ruled OOB.
It is my position that we have a flag now for KOB, in addition to the flag for IP.
R now has the following options:
Accept IP, Decline KOB
Option 1 - Loose ball foul for IP, enforce from the previous spot, 15 yards and re-kick
Option 2 - Under the 10-4-2 Exception, R may choose to enforce from the 11, 15 yards, R 1-10 at the 26
OR
Decline IP, Accept KOB
Option 1 - Enforce from the 11, plus 5 yards. R 1-10 at the 16
Option 2 - KOB - R 1-10 at the 35
This does not fall under the 6-1-9C Case Book scenario, as it is K who is rendering the ball OOB.
Essentially it comes down to R selecting either to play 1-10 from the 35, or move K back to their 25 and re-kick.
Am I accurate in this thinking? Or no?