TIME OUT: Fake Field Goals

Periodically, Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, will provide insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.

Here is a play that often raises questions about the rules: a fake field goal. It's fourth down. The holder and the kicker are in their familiar positions: the holder is directly behind the center about seven yards deep with the kicker behind him and off to one side. The holder takes the long snap from center, and instead of placing the ball on the ground, he flips it backward toward the kicker. But it is a bad toss, and the ball hits the ground before the kicker can get it. He snares it on the bounce and sweeps around the end for a first down.

Typically I get two questions about this play: (1) Isn't the ball dead when the kicker gets it while his knee is on the ground, and (2) isn't there some rule about a fumble on 4th down--doesn't that have something to do with this play?

To the first question: ordinarily the ball is dead if the player touches the ground with anything other than his hands or feet. But the rules allow a unique exception for the case here: if a teammate is in position to kick then the ball stays alive and the holder can get up and run, or he can pass the ball while still having his knee on the ground, as in our play.

What about the fourth-down fumble? The rules say that on fourth down if a player on offense fumbles and a teammate gets the ball it is dead. However-and here's the key-in our play it is not a fumble, it is a backward pass (or lateral). They are not the same, and they have different rules. Anyone may catch or recover a backward pass and the ball is still alive.

So, our play is perfectly legal, and a great one for the element of surprise.