I must chime in here to say that I do not like the mechanics used, nor the way the ones in place were applied.
I don't know what the keys are, here. Up here in the frozen North, our short-kick mechanics vary depending on the crew size, but we never have more than two on each line (kick, restraining), and each member of the crew is assigned a number of kick-team players. (Back-side officials would have the interior k-team players).
In this case, the officials working the near-side line halfway down (the one who moved and probably ought not to have) should have been following two kick-team members to pick up the illegal blocks. (I assume that the NCAA has the illegal block parameter for Kick-team members, as we do up here.)
As said earlier, this is a crew effort, or ought to be.
The restraining-line official on the near side (where the kick is coming down) should hold the line and be largely/entirely responsible for watching the ball and determining who touched what, where. That leaves six officials to cover blocking and legal/illegal tactics.
Ultimately, I agree with previous statements: this is one of those things that MUST be discussed at pregame chatters. It is the entire crew's responsibility to cover these plays correctly, and we - as officials - should know that the most contentious situations must be covered in all pre-game assignments ... and doubly so with playoffs, due to the increased import and scrutiny.
