Batting a Scrimmage Kick in the EZ

[TXMike]

Impossible to tell where ball first hit the ground but it is pretty clear where the kick was batted.  First game cobwebs maybe?

[yt=425,350]yJ3ZUr6-2bA[/yt]

[cougar729]

First game cobwebs maybe?

[yt=425,350]yJ3ZUr6-2bA[/yt]

No one stepped up to help out here?

[NVFOA_Ump]

Looks like we've got an A Illegal Touch in B's EZ, should be B ball on the 20 yard line.

[Andrew McCarthy]

I had a play like this last year where I figured something like this happened so I asked the deep guys what we had.  The F told me the kicking team "made a great play" and the ball was on the 1 yard line.  Ok, great- so we go with that.

Then I saw the film.

Now when there's a play like this I go down and ask them exactly what happened and where.

[Atlanta Blue]

We had one of these in the LSU-UNC game also that caused quite a bit of discussion, and I don't know why.

LSU punting.  Punt into 2-3 yards into the EZ, LSU defender bats it out, two deep officials both drop bags in the EZ.  Ball comes out to about the 3, where it touches a UNC player (who MIGHT have been trying to pick it up).  He gets hit, ball is loose, LSU "recovers".  A 60 second discussion occurs among the crew, and Steve Shaw finally announces that the ball was illegally touched in the EZ, no foul occurred by the receiving team after that point, so UNC had the right to the touchback.  All correct, but I couldn't understand what took so long to decide.  It looked pretty clear cut.

[KB]

When you are facing a possible game changer, you (as a referee) want to make sure that everything is clear cut before the decision is made. Including getting the number of the player who illegally touched the ball (to stifle the coach's complaints) and eliminating any possibility of a foul that would (if penalty is accepted) cancel the IT.
All in all, spending a minute to get it right seems not extraordinary under the circumstances.

[NTXRef]

This was pretty bad.   When I saw this live, I was giving the benefit of the doubt that the ball at least hit in the field of play.   Not sure now that TxMike supplied the slo-mo replay.   What made this particularly bad is that the guy took 4 steps in the EZ before batting it back.   Not even close to being valid on Sundays either.   Could at least be not as bad if he leaped from field of play and batted it back.  This is just an "Ouch" from all perspectives.   Hopefully, the coordinator at least gets it right.

[TXMike]

We are lucky if we get 2 sets of eyes on something.  They would have had 3 sets on this.  While seeing this and thinking about this is a great learning experience for us unwashed masses, I can't help but think how valuable the learning would be if we could be privy to the discussion (if any) that went on.  What was there that caused them to stay with the incorrect call. 

[houstonjaguar]

I saw this as it happened and I couldn't believe it.  I know the R from this game as he's in our chapter, but he would have been at least 50 yards away from the play to attempt to overrule.

[TXMike]

Is he willing to share the discussion that went on?  Also, if the F, S and B had reported what they saw, I.e. the player several yards deep in the EZ batting it back into the field of play, he would not be overruling anyway. He would be simply enforcing the rule based on the input he received.

[allen]

Ouch.

[jimcore]

White hat can have no discussion on this.  He comes down, asks for status of ball and then chops it in.  He has no dog in this fight.  Put this all on the one guyers, too many players to watch I guess.

[TXMike]

If the R has any inlkling that something out of the ordinary occurred he absolutely needs to step up and be a leader to question, if even ever so briefly, what took place.  Anyone on the crew who recognized that something strange happened owes it to the crew to make an effort to help them get it right.

[JugglingReferee]

When you are facing a possible game changer, you (as a referee) want to make sure that everything is clear cut before the decision is made. Including getting the number of the player who illegally touched the ball (to stifle the coach's complaints) and eliminating any possibility of a foul that would (if penalty is accepted) cancel the IT.
All in all, spending a minute to get it right seems not extraordinary under the circumstances.

I agree with this, but 1 minute does seem like a long time.  I had a game with two fouls on the play: UR-Punter and Block in the Back on R's return.

Watching the broadcast in the post-game confirmed I took a long time time sort the enforcement out, which was just under 1 minute.  I do recognize that this type of situation that negates a COP is rare in Cdn ball, which is why I probably needed extra time to sort through the information.