Punt downed at the one yard-line

[Bamagator]

While refreshing my beverage, I missed seeing what happened on the last LSU punt, which they downed on our one yard-line. Was the punt misplayed, or not catchable?

 

[Go Bama]

The punt was downed at the one yard line by an LSU player who was falling into the endzone. IMO, the ref should have placed the ball at the 20 yard line.

 

[PacadermaTideUs]

It wasn't misplayed or non-catchable. It also wasn't downed at the 1 yard line, even if the official ruled that it was.

But no matter - we won. And bad calls went both ways.

Video here: http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...u-even-downs-punts-at-the-1-with-maximum-swag

 

[Tide1986]

It wasn't misplayed or non-catchable. It also wasn't downed at the 1 yard line, even if the official ruled that it was.

But no matter - we won. And bad calls went both ways.

Video here: http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...u-even-downs-punts-at-the-1-with-maximum-swag

I'm not a rules expert, but I found these sections which may explain why the ball was downed at the one yard line:

Rule 4, Section 1, Article 3e - A live ball becomes dead...when a player of the kicking team catches or recovers any free kick or a scrimmage kick that has crossed the neutral zone.

Rule 2, Section 4, Article 1a - The ball is in player possession when a player has the ball firmly in his grasp by holding or controlling it while contacting the ground inbounds.

 

[Bamagator]

It wasn't misplayed or non-catchable. It also wasn't downed at the 1 yard line, even if the official ruled that it was.

But no matter - we won. And bad calls went both ways.

Video here: http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...u-even-downs-punts-at-the-1-with-maximum-swag

Sorry I wasn't clear with the question - did we not have a return man back there? Or was it the perfect punt that landed inside the 5-yard line?

 

[bamaga]

Yes, we had a return man, the kick was inside the ten yard line, which Christion correctly got away and waved everyone off. Just a great punt.

 

[PacadermaTideUs]

Sorry I wasn't clear with the question - did we not have a return man back there? Or was it the perfect punt that landed inside the 5-yard line?

No, I understood your question. I guess I just wasn't clear with my answer. When I said it wasn't misplayed or non-catchable, I meant to imply that, as bamaga said, we had a returner back who could have caught it, but he correctly chose to let it fall inside the 10. It just had a great bounce and they had a coverage guy in place to down it. I just disagreed with the ref's call that it was properly downed outside the endzone.

 

[PacadermaTideUs]

I'm not a rules expert, but I found these sections which may explain why the ball was downed at the one yard line:

Rule 4, Section 1, Article 3e - A live ball becomes dead...when a player of the kicking team catches or recovers any free kick or a scrimmage kick that has crossed the neutral zone.

Rule 2, Section 4, Article 1a - The ball is in player possession when a player has the ball firmly in his grasp by holding or controlling it while contacting the ground inbounds.

Thanks. You're probably right. I wasn't exactly sure about the rule and thought, like Musberger, that momentum came in to play when downing a punt, and the ball wasn't properly controlled until the player's body was properly controlled. I looked for the specific rule in the 2014 rulebook and couldn't find it. During the game, I agreed with BM, who was "shocked" and "dismayed" that the official ruled the ball downed at the 1, instead of a touchback.