What was the deal with the onside kick?

I was thinking that maybe a weak kickoff could get stuck in the mud (like vs. Penn State) and would you have to field it? Would you get possession right there where it stopped.

I'm intrigued by the bad call that resulted from even the refs not knowing how to rule...and thought that this could be a teaching moment for the coaching staff.

A force field could happen though...a 100 pound hailstone or meteorite could land right on the ball before it goes 10 yards...the players have to be prepared for all contingencies. :shock:.

 

the refs also reviewed Peterson's INT vs Bama last year and said it wasn't an INT, so...

 

That is a fact for sure!

 

I thought he touched the ball at the same time he was getting drilled in the side...I could be wrong, I was drinking heavily at the time.

 

FIFY

 

Actually, Bhelm found it with a little help from his friends.

 

I found this in the NCAA rules, and it indicates the officials made the correct call.

The rule book PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/FR09.pdf

The NC kicker bounced the ball into our guys, so it appears that since the ball touched the ground first, the receiver is NOT protected any longer.

 

True about the ball bouncing eliminating all protection. The only other advantage the receiving team has once it hits the ground is the ten-yard rule.

The proper coaching to give to our hands team from now on is to just not cross the line at all. Just wait for it. Blue rushed up to the ball and that accelerated the process.

Also, if the ball is bouncing too hard for the front line to get it, they are usually told to get out of the way or bat it out of bounds.

Onside kicks are tricky though, you can practice them all you want and they never go the same way twice.

It was a good onside kick and our freshman made a freshman mistake. Either way, we should've survived it when our defense got the ball back. I'm not concerned about an onside kick, I'm more worried that our starting running back couldn't secure the ball with no timeouts for the other team.

That is something you can account for, but fluke bounces and the enforcement of tough to interpret rules you can't predict.