Live ball on kick off

[EastAl_Tiger 228]

31 minutes ago, Viper said:

 

So how does Rule 8-5-1-a coincide with that rule?

 

 

because if you look at Rule 6 Article 7. b, it states: "If the result of the free kick is a touchback (Rule 8-6) for Team B, they will put the ball in play at their 25-yard line."

then you have to go to the definition of touchbacks in Rule 8.

[Viper 3,132]

27 minutes ago, EastAl_Tiger said:

because if you look at Rule 6 Article 7. b, it states: "If the result of the free kick is a touchback (Rule 8-6) for Team B, they will put the ball in play at their 25-yard line."

then you have to go to the definition of touchbacks in Rule 8.

In other words...how do they co-exist on the Shivers play?

[StatTiger 3,188]

On 10/30/2020 at 11:52 PM, WarTiger said:

Sorry, Stat.   The rule referenced in the OP doesn't apply here.  The ball was never "batted" at all and impetus doesn't apply.  In that play referenced above Team B recovered it.  It never said anything about the ball being dead when it crossed the goal line or what the result would be if Team A (the kicking team) had recovered it.  Had the official ruled Shivers touched the ball, it will ABSOLUTELY remain a live ball after it gets to the endzone and would absolutely be a touchdown for Ole Miss had they recovered it.   It also doesn't matter at all whether it was touched inadvertently or intentionally.     The only time that would come into play is if the opponent blocked him into the ball, then its ignored.  Otherwise, it is NOT ignored at all.    Only a freekick that is UNTOUCHED by R is a touchback if it goes into the endzone.

Ball Dead in End Zone
ARTICLE 7. a. When a free kick untouched by Team B touches the ground
on or behind Team B’s goal line, the ball becomes dead and belongs to Team B.

The key word in that rule is UNTOUCHED.  If its touched by R(team b ) it is not blown dead when it gets to the endzone in college football.

  Also, there's no such thing as an inadvertent touch anywhere in the rule book.   The only time the word Inadvertent is used in the book anywhere is referencing an inadvertent whistle. 

Not going to debate it because I am not a collegiate official. Just reporting what a collegiate official told me. According to him, the rule I cited would apply to the Ole Miss game. Again, he said Shivers never possessed the ball so it was not a fumble. You are correct that "batting" would not apply because Shivers did not bat the ball.  If they had reviewed the play and saw that Shivers made contact with the ball, they would have to decide whether or not Shivers contact changed the impetus of the ball. If they ruled the impetus was not changed, the ruling would be a touch back because the play would have been dead, the moment the ball crossed the goal line. If they ruled that Shivers did change the impetus of the ball, it would have remained a live ball and could have been recovered for a TD by Ole Miss. In his opinion, the impetus did not change, thus he would have ruled the play a touch back.

Regardless of the rules, Shivers was clearly in position to recover the ball had the official not blown the whistle.