Football Officiating > NCAA Discussion

Fair Catch rules

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ElvisLives:
For NCAA football, 6-5-1-c is very clear: "Rules pertaining to a fair catch apply only when a scrimmage kick crosses the neutral zone or during free kicks."
So, if a player of Team B gives a signal behind/in/beyond the neutral zone, but the ball does not cross the neutral zone, the signal means nothing. The ball remains alive and in play, and players of either team may catch or recover, and advance the ball.

6-5-3-c & d reinforce 6-5-1-c by further stating that INVALID signals made beyond the NZ apply only to Team B, and invalid signals beyond the NZ are possible ONLY when the ball crosses the NZ. So, with all of these rules, ANY signal made by either team when the ball does not cross the NZ are simply nothing. Play on.
If any kind of signal is made by Team B (anywhere on the field) when the ball crosses the NZ (sooner or later), the ball is dead and may not be advanced by either team when it comes into possession by any player.

A signal made by a player of Team A beyond the NZ, and the ball crosses the NZ, is nonsensical, since we know they can't advance the ball, anyway.
 

dammitbobby:
This is much more likely to be relevant at the HS level instead of NCAA (scrimmage kick not crossing NZ) but I've had a play happen where it went straight up, was caught by A one yard behind NZ, and then he just pitched the ball (that he assumed to be a dead ball at that point) to his sideline; I would think it's not rare, but maybe just uncommon that in a situation like that, B could come racing up to giving a FC signal. Just have to be alert and process what happens, and where.

bossman72:

--- Quote from: ElvisLives on April 05, 2024, 09:03:53 AM ---So, if a player of Team B gives a signal behind/in/beyond the neutral zone, but the ball does not cross the neutral zone, the signal means nothing. The ball remains alive and in play, and players of either team may catch or recover, and advance the ball. 

--- End quote ---

I think we talked about this in a thread a year or so ago.  They changed this about 10 years ago in the ARs.  This is a dead ball now.

dammitbobby:
AR 6-5-3

A1 or B1 signals for a fair catch beyond the neutral zone during a kick that does not cross the neutral zone. RULING: Any signal by Team A is ignored. Team B may not make a fair catch signal because the ball did not
cross the neutral zone. However, the ball is dead when caught or recovered (Rules 2-8-1-a and 4-1-3-g).

Being very pedantic, this is worded incorrectly. The first sentence says A1 or B1 makes a FC signal, but in the ruling, it says B is not allowed to - is doing so a foul? Is it a violation? Is it ignored? If it's ignored (which it kind of seems to be), why doesn't it say 'Any signal by Team A OR B is ignored?'

Things to ponder, waiting on the eclipse...

Kalle:

--- Quote from: dammitbobby on April 08, 2024, 09:17:44 AM ---AR 6-5-3

A1 or B1 signals for a fair catch beyond the neutral zone during a kick that does not cross the neutral zone. RULING: Any signal by Team A is ignored. Team B may not make a fair catch signal because the ball did not
cross the neutral zone. However, the ball is dead when caught or recovered (Rules 2-8-1-a and 4-1-3-g).

Being very pedantic, this is worded incorrectly. The first sentence says A1 or B1 makes a FC signal, but in the ruling, it says B is not allowed to - is doing so a foul? Is it a violation? Is it ignored? If it's ignored (which it kind of seems to be), why doesn't it say 'Any signal by Team A OR B is ignored?'

Things to ponder, waiting on the eclipse...

--- End quote ---

My take of the A.R. is that if A1 does a high waving signal, that is ignored and the ball will continue to be in play if caught or recovered by team B. If B1 does a high waving signal, fair catch rules do not kick in but the ball will become dead when possessed by a player of either team.

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