Rule question about kickoffs

[wheezer]

my first question is, could the MSU deep kickoff guy call for a fair catch, but let that ball fall in front of him, without fielding it?

and if the answer is yes to that, what separates that from a regular on-sides kick, where it goes 10 yards and is a free ball?....

can the receiving team use a fair catch call without obviously being able to get to the ball

 

[yesrutgers01]

The player who fair catches has to catch the ball or touch the ball before it hits the ground. If they fair catch and muff the catch, they still can't be touched until or unless the ball hits the ground.
Once the ball touches the ground, fair catch or not- it is a free ball.

 

[SouthJerseyRU]

The player who fair catches has to catch the ball or touch the ball before it hits the ground. If they fair catch and muff the catch, they still can't be touched until or unless the ball hits the ground.
Once the ball touches the ground, fair catch or not- it is a free ball.

I thought the same until I searched for the rule and found this:

Oklahoma State player smartly exploits NCAA fair catch rule to ruin a Texas Tech onside kick - Yahoo Sports

Demarco Jones made a heads up play in the first quarter.

sports.yahoo.com

Apparently you can call a fair catch on those one bounce onside kicks with the rule as written last year. Can't find anything to see if they changed it or not this year.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

The player who fair catches has to catch the ball or touch the ball before it hits the ground. If they fair catch and muff the catch, they still can't be touched until or unless the ball hits the ground.
Once the ball touches the ground, fair catch or not- it is a free ball.

This - with one possible clarification. Based on the technical definition, I don’t think the ball necessarily needs to hit the ground or the receiver before the kicking team touches it. A fair catch signal only protects the one receiver who made the signal from anyone on the kicking team touching him or interfering with his ability to catch the ball. That second part is a gray area. So hypothetically I believe if someone signals fair catch early just to signal it on a low line drive kick that ends up going to the opposite side of the field a player from the kicking team could legally recover it in the air (if the refs conclude that the guy who signaled the fair catch isn’t in realistic position to make a play on the ball).

 

[yesrutgers01]

I thought the same until I searched for the rule and found this:

Oklahoma State player smartly exploits NCAA fair catch rule to ruin a Texas Tech onside kick - Yahoo Sports

Demarco Jones made a heads up play in the first quarter.

sports.yahoo.com

Apparently you can call a fair catch on those one bounce onside kicks with the rule as written last year. Can't find anything to see if they changed it or not this year.

you are most likely right. I am sure it would have to bounce within the first 10 yards though where it is still a protected ball.

 

[RUich]

One of the headiest plays I have seen in years. Have no idea what the MSU guy was thinking.

 

[wheezer]

One of the headiest plays I have seen in years. Have no idea what the MSU guy was thinking.

the MSU guy pulled up, he might have had to dive to actually catch it on the fly, and risk what has happened to us twice, a muffed catch...

the question about the fair catch even on a bounce, if legal, would have saved him the trouble, if it ensures they get the ball....again, it would not seem fair for a fair catch to be a safety net, when the ball should be in play

 

[RUich]

But he had plenty of time to adjust to the flight of the ball. It seems like he was just not confident about hanging onto the ball.