Items Not Reviewable in College Football

[Maineac]

So with replay availability coming to a D2/D3 game near you in the near future, I’ve tried to prepare for it. It was suggested to me that perhaps it’s more efficient to learn what is NOT reviewable and work backwards from there. I tried to find such a list, but had no luck. Therefore I crafted the following, and ask if there’s anything I missed to please let me know:

* Safety by penalty for fouls that are not specifically reviewable;
* Field goal attempts if the ball is higher than the top of the uprights as it crosses the    end line;
* If a ball carrier is ruled out of bounds, except as in 12-3-1a (touchdown) and 12-3-3d       (loose ball with recovery in immediate continuing football action);
* Clock adjustment and status when a ruling is overturned outside of two minutes       remaining in the second or fourth quarter;
* In the fourth quarter only, restoring time with a score differential greater than eight       points;
* Correcting the number of a down after that series has ended or after the ball is legally       put in play after that series; and,
* Most fouls, except:
   * Illegal forward pass or handing when the player’s entire body is or has been beyond             the neutral zone or after a change of possession;
   * Player beyond the neutral zone when kicking the ball;
   * Blocking by kicking team before they are eligible to touch the ball on an onside kick;
   * Number of players on the field during a live ball;
   * Illegal touching of a forward pass by an originally eligible player who has gone out       of bounds or illegal touching of a forward pass by an originally ineligible player;
   * Player touching or recovering a kick or loose ball who has been out of bounds and       returned inbounds during the kick;
   * Forward pass that has become illegal as a second pass after an on field ruling of       backward pass has been overturned; and,
   * A clear and obvious targeting foul.

I welcome any feedback or suggestions on things I may have missed.

[dammitbobby]

re: the last one: A clear and obvious targeting foul

Why wouldn't that be reviewable? And if replay is available, aren't all targeting fouls reviewed automatically?

[Maineac]

It is reviewable. It’s listed as one of the exceptions to fouls that cannot be reviewed.

[dammitbobby]

OK, I missed how you had it broken down and only looked at the targeting. 

Still - why the wording of clear and obvious? Rule 12-3-5-a is clear that all targeting fouls are to be reviewed.

...my point is by saying clear and obvious, it's implying a distinction between those, and ones that are NOT clear and obvious, when all are to be reviewed.

[Maineac]

I just copied it verbatim from the rules book.

[ElvisLives]

I am not a replay expert, even though I worked with it for a number of years in my FBS days. (It was far simpler, then, and we didn’t have targeting as we have it now). But, I believe the “clear and obvious” language is there to allow the RO to initiate and create a foul from the booth, when it isn’t called on the field. In practice, NCAA guys have become pretty good at calling anything suspect, and letting the RO take them off of it, if necessary. So, that language isn’t needed, much. But, it is there in those unusual-to-rare instances when it is needed.
I believe.

[bossman72]

The way that I figure out what's reviewable and what's not is how objective the judgment is.  If it's a clear black and white thing like if he stepped out of bounds or not or if the ball was touched by someone or not, then that's most likely reviewable in mostly every scenario you can wedge it into.  If there's something that requires judgment by an official or any gray area, that is likely not reviewable.  You just have to remember the exceptions to that rule.