Football Officiating > NCAA Discussion

Not sure why I keep concerning myself, but…

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ElvisLives:
The likelihood of ever seeing one is infinitesimal, but, we’ll still be expected to know everything about a Fair Catch Kick. I heard from an unofficial, but reliable, source that the game clock will start on the kick for a Fair Catch Kick. That makes total sense, if everything (well, most everything) after the kick is to be treated like a scrimmage kick.
So, if that is the case, then having an onside kick would be non-sensical (B could just let the ball go OB or come to a stop, and have good field position at the previous spot).
I’m guessing:
-If unsuccessful and untouched by B, B gets the ball at the previous spot.
-Fair Catch made in B’s end zone, will be a true touchback (stupid move by B).
-Team A would not be allowed to touch the ball until it is touched by B.
-After a fair catch by B in the field of play, the ball would belong to B at that spot (even if behind B’s 25).
-The kicker would not be able to be blocked until he has advanced at least 5-yards beyond A’s restraining line or the ball has been touched by a B player, or has touched the ground after being kicked.

Let’s see how far off I am.

Legacy Zebra:
An onside kick wouldn’t make sense anyway, since A could have just snapped the ball after the fair catch anyway. Team A already has the ball. Why would they give B a chance to take it away? As far as everything else, I’m not sure why they’re mixing free kick and scrimmage kick rules for this. All they had to do was say “All free kick rules apply. Exception: if the kick passes through the goal in flight, Team A scores 3 points.” They’re making this way more complicated than it needs to be.

ncwingman:
All of this got me digging a bit more into the existing rules - that you've probably already done yourself. The NCAA's statement on the rule change said they wanted to essentially have the same rule as the other codes.

The Fed rule, as you've been asking about elsewhere, is essentially a free kick that can score. Formation, timing, clock status, first touching, etc... all of that is "free kick" standard.

The NFL, on the other hand, treats it as a scrimmage kick with an odd formation, and all scrimmage kick regulations, timing, clock status, etc. apply. (11-4-3: "The rules for a field goal attempt from scrimmage apply to a field goal attempt following a fair catch (a fair catch kick).")

From what you've said so far, it sounds like the NCAA is copying the NFL rule over the Fed rule, so I would probably default to "Is this what would happen on a field goal?" as my thought process. Of course, they'll also change like three things randomly just to be difficult.

Edit - To add the rest of the NFL rule, that explicitly states that A cannot possess the ball until it has been touched by B, therefore an onside kick would be nonsensical.

ElvisLives:
And the first one of us that has a Fair Catch Kick, get video and upload a link to it. Taking bets on how long it will take to see one.  ;D

Etref:

--- Quote from: ElvisLives on April 20, 2026, 09:19:01 AM ---And the first one of us that has a Fair Catch Kick, get video and upload a link to it. Taking bets on how long it will take to see one.  ;D
[/quote

Just because you said it…… will happen Week 1 noon game!
--- End quote ---

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