Football Officiating > Texas Topics

Weird question - FG vs Punt

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Texas_Newbie:
Obvious punt situation for Team A....4 & 15 from their own 30...They line up in FG formation (Coach says his kicker can boot a FG longer than a punt). Can team A punt using the field goal formation & kick (yes with holder) instead of "punting?"

If Team B doesnt return it, ball dead back at the LOS or end of kick?

ilyazhito:
 Under NCAA rules, Rule 2-16-4 specifices the types of place kick that exists. There is the place kick field goal and the free kick place kick. There is no provision for a place kick that is neither a field goal attempt nor a free kick in NCAA rules, so the place kick punt will be treated as an unsuccessful field goal attempt. That means that the ball will be returned to the previous line of scrimmage.

ElvisLives:

--- Quote from: ilyazhito on September 25, 2025, 05:31:52 PM --- That means that the ball will be returned to the previous line of scrimmage.

--- End quote ---

As long as Team B is smart enough to leave the ball alone and they don’t touch it.

Kalle:
I think rule 2-16-7-a is the one you want to read: "A scrimmage kick is a punt, drop kick, or field goal place kick." So, you can execute a scrimmage kick in three ways:
1. punt, and the result will be governed by rule 6-3-7 if team B does not touch the ball, or
2. drop kick, similarly governed by 6-3-7, or
3. a (field goal) place kick, governed by rule 8-4-2-b.

The intent of the team A does not matter, a place kick is always a field goal attempt. Now, if we start talking about drop kicks, things become interesting :) The rules do not clearly specify that a drop kick is always a field goal attempt, so should we go with the intent, or always use either 6-3-7 or 8-4-2-b?

peterparsons:
2-16-9 and 8-4-1-a both talk about field goal attempts being place kicks or drop kicks. While not explicit, I do think it is good enough to argue equivalence.

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