when a player with the ball has his knee down the play is dead, but when a guy holding for a FG
decides to make a fake he gets to receive the ball on one knee then stand up and either run or pass,
just saw this in the Texas Tech /Nebraska game and the guys in the booth didn't explain

I think you just did.

It is curious, though.

There's an exception in the rulebook for holders

^^What he said.

I asked the same question a few years ago, because a similar situation happened in an FSU-Miami game. The Miami holder bobbled then dropped the snap on a FG attempt and then picked it up and ran for the first down. The explanation I got that day was "there's an exception for the holders."

Which makes sense, because if there wasn't an exception, then by rule the play would be dead as soon as the holder got the ball - because his knee is already down.

BINGO, we have a winner!

I always thought the one-knee-down-play-is-over rule was stupid. They should just make the rules the same as the NFL. That's what most of these kids are striving to play in anyway.

dev/ and Bmwolf nailed it. I don't have the NCAA rulebook, but the NFHS uses the same rules. Here's what they say:


Here's a good one for you -- ran into it at my game Friday night, and neither coach had ever seen it happen before. (Nor had I, but our radio announcer got it right.) The team I cover was punting from inside its own 10. Bad snap, blocked punt, loose ball knocked out of the end zone.

Ruling: Touchback. What happened?

Interesting. But after thinking about it, I guess it's consistent.
Think of the Lett/Beebe play & those similar. Ball is fumbled or is otherwise loose and it rolls out of the endzone w/o the "offensive" team recovering. The ball goes back to the team who was defending that endzone - touchback.

But that was a Dallas fumble through the end zone Buffalo was defending. This was a kick blocked through the kicking team's own end zone, which is normally a safety ... unless one very specific action happens.

Here's the rule I didn't know existed until I saw it called, then frantically dug through the rulebook to find it:


The referee ruled that during the scramble to recover the loose ball, one of the players from the receiving team inadvertently struck it with his leg, forcing it out of the back of the end zone. Tough to see from the press box -- the stands aren't that high, and the lighting at that field could be brighter -- but the block itself definitely didn't send the ball all the way past the back line.

I was going to say the same thing. Lori, you gotta leave a little more time for people to respond

Again, I would contend that it's consistent; perhaps I didn't fully explain my reasoning.
Yes, if a kick gets blocked directly out of the EZ it is & should be a safety (AFAIK). But, if the ball doesn't go directly out, and a "scrum" ensues, if the rcving team is unable to gain possession, it loses possession. (I'd like to point out that's what happens on a "partially" blocked kick - if the rcving team leaves it alone, it's their ball once it dies; if they try to play it & fail to fully gain possession, it's a free ball & if the kickers recover, it's theirs, 1st & 10.

I had assumed that the only way it would be a touchback was if the kicking team tried to advance/recover the ball & failed to do so. (I don't watch or know much about college ball, but can you advance a blocked kick?)

I realize that Lett's was a fumble, but it is the probably the most recognizable play (not just for us Bills fans) where the "out of the EZ" rule would come into play.