Michigan - Penn St blocked punt

[golfingref]

 In Federation rules, blocked punt picked up behind LOS can be advanced by either team. Is the same true in NCAA? 2nd quarter. Michigan punting from their own 44. Camera angles on TV were terrible (field level from behind the punter), so unable to see exactly where the Michigan player picked up the blocked punt. Appears to pick it up from behind the LOS. Play blown dead when picked up by Michigan. PSU next puts ball in play from Michigan 43. Thoughts?

[BrendanP]

That was what I thought. I'm guessing it's like any other punt-unless touched by team B beyond the LOS, it's automatically dead if touched by team A

[NVFOA_Ump]

If kick was blocked by team B, and remained behind the NZ, then team A can recover and advance.  If blown dead, then the call must have been that team A picked up the ball beyond the NZ.

Reference is Rule 6, Section 3:

Behind the Neutral Zone
ARTICLE 1. a. A scrimmage kick that fails to cross the neutral zone continues in play. All players may catch or recover the ball behind the neutral zone and advance it (A.R. 6-3-1-I-III).

b.   The blocking of a scrimmage kick by an opponent of the kicking team who is not more than three yards beyond the neutral zone is considered to have occurred within or behind that zone (Rule 2-11-5).

[Legacy Zebra]

It could also be that the ball crossed the neutral zone and then came back behind the line. Once a scrimmage kick touches anything beyond the neutral zone, it is dead when recovered by A. That includes if it hits the ground or a player and then ricochets back behind the line. 6-3-6.

[golfingref]

Unable to tell definitively from any of the TV angles. Ball never seemed to bounce backward. Would love to see the high mid-field view.

[bossman72]

I thought the same thing watching it live!!!  The camera angles didn't show where the ball hit.  Big miss if that was the case!

[Fatman325]

Is it possible that the ball rolled dead before the K player picked it up? That could be the reason for stopping play.

[bossman72]

It was stationary for about a "2-Mississippi" until K picked it up.

[Fatman325]

Which brings up the question. How many Mississippis must one wait until we blow it dead because no one was sharp enough to realize that they could advance it? I don't know that there is a definitive answer.

[Osric Pureheart]

My standard is that I watch the ball stop, look left long enough to see what everyone's doing there, look right long enough to see what everyone's doing there, and then kill if nobody seems interested. I think "...and nobody is attempting to recover it" needs to remain a contextual judgement based on what else is going on rather than trying to introduce a hard-and-fast time period.

At the risk of being That Guy, anyone got a video?

[goodgrr]

At the risk of being That Guy, anyone got a video?

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14184691

[NVFOA_Ump]

So video confirms that the loose ball after the blocked kick was never beyond the NZ, and also seems to confirm that the ball was blown dead after the A player picked it up and started to advance the ball?   

[Fatman325]

So if they let this play out how are we going to handle the Illegal Substitutions as both teams were running their offense/defense on the field? Would it be equitable to replay the down when A just got their kick blocked? IW? What's right here?

[Osric Pureheart]

Cheers, Roger.

I think I'd have blown that dead.

[bossman72]

So if they let this play out how are we going to handle the Illegal Substitutions as both teams were running their offense/defense on the field? Would it be equitable to replay the down when A just got their kick blocked? IW? What's right here?

You could CYA and call the kick abandoned...

[golfingref]

Center judge can be seen killing the clock. Don't know if he was first to blow or just echoing, but from his angle, I hope he is just echoing. Definitely not in position to see where ball is picked up in relation to LOS.