Fair catch on an onside kick?

[EasternOHBillsFan]

In the UCLA/Rutgers game today, Rutgers attempted an onside kick down by 3. The kick went 10 yards, fielded by a UCLA player, and returned for a TD.

 

Instead of it being 42-32, the refs said one of the UCLA players SIGNALED A FAIR CATCH while the ball was in the air, and the TD didn't count, 1st down UCLA and they ran out the clock.

 

This is ridiculous... there should be no fair catches on onside kicks. That is the first time I have ever seen that nonsense!

[ArdmoreRyno]

It's been a rule for a while. My Pokes did it a couple of years ago against Texas Tech... 

 

 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

2 hours ago, ArdmoreRyno said:

It's been a rule for a while. My Pokes did it a couple of years ago against Texas Tech... 

 

 

 

 

Need some clarification...

 

Looked like that worked because the kicker chipped it instead of topping it and making it bounce high off the ground. I wonder if it was topped and hit the ground first if it would still be fair catchable?

[ArdmoreRyno]

21 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Need some clarification...

 

Looked like that worked because the kicker chipped it instead of topping it and making it bounce high off the ground. I wonder if it was topped and hit the ground first if it would still be fair catchable?

 

I think it doesn't matter. I don't have the run in front of me but they talked about it after the Ok State/Tech game that "why not fair catch it on every online kick" and then they talked about needing to change the rule because it would mean you'd never get an onside kick.

According to the NCAA rule book, “a fair catch of a free kick is a catch by a Team B player who has made a valid signal during an untouched free kick.” Additionally, the rule book states that “during a free kick, a player of the receiving team in position to receive the ball has the same kick-catch and fair-catch protection whether the ball is kicked directly off the tee or is immediately driven to the ground, strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of the ball kicked directly off the tee.”

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/oklahoma-state-player-uses-fair-catch-to-exploit-rule-book-and-ruin-a-texas-tech-onside-kick-202747283.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADwcFLR2SdnxeNPspmaziXC5vsrqH1i6Vw1-KJYotVLYNjNKq6BgUnqW0rIYJTNiFLuodq_BbbpWkIin05K7LjRulKL4ysxUsqq9zXOrkrui_gOAqUkW3gRD9vMg3jO3sCmQuhn4O0YTJ-YyW4kFY5ndlCmOzASIvwRm3waFtY5R

[Cam Davis]

I was blown away by the ridiculousness of the fair catch call nullifying the touchdown by UCLA and have been researching it since then. Based on the definition of a fair catch that most of us are familiar with, it should be allowed on an onside kick if the kick is chipped into the air as the Texas Tech kicker appeared to do. But apparently, the NCAA (and only the NCAA) allows for a fair catch to be called even if the ball hits the ground, which of course, makes no sense and – as mentioned above – suggests that receiving teams should call for one on every onside kick until the rule is changed. But what makes this discussion even more ridiculous is that (from my recollection) the fair catch signal was made by a UCLA player who was 5-10 yards behind his teammate who collected the ball and ran it in for the touchdown. The rule above clearly states that the player making the signal should be in position to receive the ball, as was the OK State player who waved his arm. And certainly, a player trying to catch a bouncing onsides kick can't be waving an arm in the air at the same time. So in my mind, not only is it a stupid rule that should've been changed by now, the officials in the UCLA-Rutgers game called it completely wrong. It should've been Touchdown UCLA. One could argue that UCLA could've been penalized for having a player call for a fair catch who didn't attempt to receive the ball. But kick returners on other kicks frequently wave for a fair catch as a decoy, then let it go over their head in hopes of getting a touchback.