Rules review video: Targeting, illegal touching, and joint possession of a fumble

2025 Media Video #10

National coordinator of football officials Steve Shaw posted his tenth media video of the season, breaking down rules and interpretations from Week 9 of the college football season.

Prior to going through plays, Shaw discussed kick data from this season. In the 2025 season, there has been an onside kick success rate of 19.8% (20 successful attempts out of 101 attempts) for FBS, which is 5% higher than last year.

• Targeting a defenseless player. A blitzing defender hit the quarterback in a passing posture hard. The rule states that a player in a passing posture is considered defenseless. Replay stopped the game to review the hit for targeting and confirmed the foul because the defender led with the head and forcibly attacked the defenseless quarterback’s head or neck area. The defender was disqualified. Because targeting occurred before the change of possession (a resulting fumble was recovered by the defense), the offense kept the ball with a 15-yard penalty from the previous spot and an automatic first down. The “strike zone” for a defender going into a passer is above the knees and below the head or neck area.
• Illegal touching of a punt. On a punt play, the ball was partially blocked and went high into the air. A member of the kicking team (#57) caught the punt one yard beyond the neutral zone. When a kicking team player touches a scrimmage kick that has crossed the neutral zone before an opponent, this is a first-touch spot which is more often seen when downing the punt near the goal. (In the rulebook, this is “illegal touching,” but this variety is a violation to establish the first-touch spot, and not to be confused with the foul.) Any time kicking team takes possession of a kick (unless it does not cross the neutral zone) the play is dead. In this case, the receiving team can elect to take possession at the 21-yard line, where the ball was first touched. If the ball had not crossed the neutral zone, any player could touch the ball, and the kicking team could advance it if they caught it.
• Legal hand placement. A defender (#17) attempted a tackle and his hand made contact with the ball carrier’s face mask but he immediately let go. The officials determined that this was not a face mask foul because the rule requires a player to “grasp and then twist, turn or pull the face mask, the chin strap or any helmet opening of an opponent”. The officials correctly ruled no foul had occurred since the defender only touched the mask and did not twist, turn, or pull it.
• Joint possession of a loose ball. Following a short punt, the receiver muffed the ball, leading to a scramble where both a kicking team player and a receiving team player gained joint possession of the ball while it was on the ground. The rule dictates that if opposing players, who are eligible to touch the ball, simultaneously possess it, and the ball is declared dead in joint possession, it is awarded to the receiving team. The same principle exists for joint possession between the offense and defense: the tie goes to the offense.
• Intentional grounding (safety). The quarterback, while deep at his own 10-yard line and under heavy pressure, threw the ball downfield, and it landed with no receiver anywhere in the area. The crew collectively determined that intentional grounding had occurred. While intentional grounding typically results in a loss of down at the spot of the foul, in this case, the spot of the foul was in the end zone, which results in the penalty being enforced as a safety.
• Overturned incomplete pass. With six seconds left, the offense threw a pass to the end zone that was initially ruled an incomplete pass. Replay review determined that the receiver gained firm control of the ball and it never hit the ground, confirming it was a catch. However, the down-the-line view showed that the ball never broke the plane of the goal line. Replay overturned the call to a catch just short of the goal line, and because time had expired, the game ended with no score.