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Football Officiating => NCAA Discussion => Topic started by: TXMike on August 17, 2014, 10:26:03 AM
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Not NCAA game but good example of a 4th down "not a fumble" play.
(The batting might be worth discussing though)
http://www.azcardinals.com/videos/videos/Zach_Baumans_wacky_TD_run/3ba3c0ff-c19f-4ba3-8661-623efe4c96a6
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Okay, so what determines the direction of batting?
Is it, like a pass, determined by the first thing the ball strikes (or in this case the first direction it rolls)?
Or is it, like a fumble out of bounds, determined by where the loose ball eventually gets possessed or becomes dead?
Or is it determined by the player's intent? If the ball is coming "forward" at me and I obviously try to bat it "backward", but it glances off my fingers in another direction that's still forward, did I bat it forward?
In this play, I think the batted ball initially rolls backward - or at least not forward - before curving and rolling forward. By the time the lineman's teammate recovers it, it's beyond the batting location. The lineman's intent - forward or backward - is not discernible to me.
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If you're going to flag this as illegal batting, you better be completely sure that it was forward. I don think you can say that with certainty on this play. I would pass on this call.
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Direction is determined by which way the ball starts going, so basically where it first hits the ground. In this case it very much looks like it is going backwards, so no foul.
I've seen good referees blow this kind of 4th down "fumble" call. Unfortunately other crew members did not come to the rescue and ask the right questions.