Question about safety scored by NT

Texas Stranger · September 20, 2005

Did the Tulsa punter really kick a loose ball out the back of their end zone ?

UNTFan23 · September 20, 2005

yes.

ipEAGLE · September 20, 2005

Pretty smart.... if we got it on the 1 it would have been a td.

MeanMag · September 20, 2005

Pretty smart.... if we got it on the 1 it would have been a td.
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or another 4th and 99yds

Texas Stranger · September 20, 2005

What was the previous spot (line of scrimmage) ?

Also, did the referee throw a flag for illegal kicking ?

I have a good reason for asking this.......

Edited September 20, 2005 by Texas Stranger

Eagle-96 · September 20, 2005

What was the previous spot (line of scrimmage) ?
Also, did the referee throw a flag for illegal kicking ?
I have a good reason for asking this.......
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Not sure where the original line of scrimmage was but it was around the 20. The ref called an illegal kick on the punter and penalized Tulsa on the ensuing free-kick. That is a well coached punter.

Edited September 20, 2005 by Eagle-96

Texas Stranger · September 22, 2005

The penalty for an Illegal Kick by an offensive player is 15 yards AND LOSS OF DOWN. NT could have had the ball 1st-and-goal from about the 10 or so (Assuming the previous spot was the 20).

Just something to chew on. Maybe you "never take points off the board", maybe you go for a quick TD or Field Goal.

meangreenfreak · September 22, 2005

The penalty for an Illegal Kick by an offensive player is 15 yards AND LOSS OF DOWN. NT could have had the ball 1st-and-goal from about the 10 or so (Assuming the previous spot was the 20).
Just something to chew on. Maybe you "never take points off the board", maybe you go for a quick TD or Field Goal.
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Inside the 20 wouldn't the 15 yard penalty be enforced as half the distance to the goal line? That would put the ball on the 10 or so.

Edited September 22, 2005 by meangreenfreak

keith · September 22, 2005

Inside the 20 wouldn't the 15 yard penalty be enforced as half the distance to the goal line? That would put the ball on the 10 or so.
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Depends if it is enforced from the line of scrimmage or the spot of the foul. If it's spot of the foul and he was inside the 5 then half the distance ... Anyway I think the point is was there an option to take the penalty and the ball somewhere inside the red zone or take the 2 pts and receive the free kick.

Keith

Eagle-96 · September 22, 2005

The penalty for an Illegal Kick by an offensive player is 15 yards AND LOSS OF DOWN. NT could have had the ball 1st-and-goal from about the 10 or so (Assuming the previous spot was the 20).
Just something to chew on. Maybe you "never take points off the board", maybe you go for a quick TD or Field Goal.
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Rule 8-5-1-a states:

It is a safety when the ball becomes dead out of bounds behind a goal line or becomes dead in the possession of a player on above or behind his own goal line and the defending team is responsible for the ball being there.

The punter kicked the ball out of his own end zone. The fact that the ball went out of bounds in the end zone before the change of possesion is what makes it a safety, not the fact that he committed the penalty in the end zone. Only certain penalties committed in the end zone are deemed as a safety. Declining the penalty would still result in the safety.