SEC speaks on Texas-Tennessee illegal kickoff

[zebrastripes]

https://x.com/SECOfficiating/status/2104594782471475624

Now if only they would address the sucker punch in the SC-Bama game that somehow did not result in an ejection.

[ElvisLives]

This reiterates what Shaw was telling us for years. Essentially, Team A must be happy where they put the tee down, or, where they are standing, if they plan to drop kick or punt (kick after a safety). In all cases, they must be happy where ball/tee is, or where they are standing - laterally between the hash marks - when the R makes the ball ready for play. No moving the tee/ball. If making drop kick or punting, the kicker can't move any appreciable distance laterally and kick the ball. The rule doesn't allow for any lateral movement - not yards, not feet, not inches. For a place kick, this is easy. Once the ball is in place after the RFP, no lateral relocation. Period.
For a drop kick/punt, that's a slight bit more problematic. REFEREES: By RULE (6-1-2-a, sentence 2), we are not to declare the ball ready before the ball has been handed to the kicker, and all officials are in place. For a place kick, I strongly recommend that you make sure the ball is on the tee and the kicker is moving away from the ball/tee before declaring the ball ready. For a drop kick or punt, the covering official (B/C) should instruct the kicker that, once the referee sounds his whistle, he (kicker) may not move to his right or left, so he should get where he (kicker) wants to be, laterally between the hash marks, before he (B/C) moves away after handing him the ball.

Matt Young may need to edit the rule, if he intends to force drop kicks and punts to made ON/OVER their restraining line. The current rule (6-1-2-c-4) allows the ball to be kicked from BEHIND their restraining line. Before 1997, the ball had to be kicked within one yard of the restraining line. In '97, the the rule was changed to simply say the ball may be kicked from BEHIND their restraining line. Since Team A players (other than the kicker/holder) have to be behind the ball, the 'one-yard' rule was pointless, so the rule was changed. So, if the NCAA wants to force drop kicks and punts to be made on/over Team A's restraining line, they need to change the rule to say so. Me, personally, I don't see the problem with letting them kick the ball from any point behind their line, as long as all 'rushers' are behind the ball when it is kicked.

Anybody have Matt Young's ear? 

[Imperial Stout]

6-1-2-c-4 is a bit of a mess altogether. It is perfectly clear that a drop kick could be behind the restraining line, though the "After a safety" qualifier is being taken to apply to more than just the punt.  Though, why have an exception for a drop kick after a safety versus on a kick off makes no logical sense. This needs to be cleaned up.

[ElvisLives]

As it turns out, a drop kick on a KICKOFF must be made ON the Team A restraining line (RL). The allowance for making a drop kick (and a punt) from BEHIND Team A's RL only applies to Free Kicks After A Safety (not to kickoffs).
How I have not known this since I started officiating in 1972 I can only explain in that I 'assumed,' due to the difficulty in dropping the ball directly on the RL, a drop kick must be allowed to be made from behind the RL. No. Drop kicks on a KO must be made ON the RL. A drop kick (or a punt) on a Free Kick After A Safety may be made from any point behind the RL. The rule regarding the lateral location applies to both kickoffs and free kicks after a safety.
So, all of the rulings in Bulletin 3 - EXCEPT No. 2 - are correct, as written. Play No. 2 needs to be clarified by stating this situation is a KICKOFF, not a free kick after a safety.

Live and learn, eh?

[Imperial Stout]

All of this begs the question, why create an exception in one case but not the other? It makes things far more complicated than it needs to be.