Rules review video: Muffed fair catch, illegal drop kick, and use of the kicking tee

2026 Media Video #3

National coordinator of college football officiating Ron Snodgrass posted his third media video of the season, breaking down rules and interpretations from Weeks 4 and 5 of the college football season.

• Muffed fair catch (kickoff). On a kickoff, a receiver signals for a fair catch but does not complete the catch, so his team is not awarded the ball at the 25 yard line. He muffs the ball and then picks it up at the 1 yard line. Because he signaled, the ball becomes dead when it is recovered, and the receiving team has a 1st and 10 at its own 1 yard line.
• Drop kick. On an onside kickoff situation, the kicking team elects to use a drop kick, which is allowed by rule. After the ready for play signal, the kicker takes multiple steps to his left, returns a couple of steps, and then executes the kick. On a free kick, a drop kick must land on the kicking team’s restraining line, and this one appears to land slightly behind it. The ball also cannot be relocated after the ready for play signal except following a charged timeout, so the lateral movement by the kicker is not allowed either. Both issues should have resulted in a dead ball foul for an illegal kick.
• Kicking tee. On another onside kick attempt, the kicking team uses a tee. If the kicker comes out with a tee, he must use it, and the ball must be touching it. The tee cannot be used as equipment to deceive the opponent. Without a tee, the ball must be placed on the restraining line.
• Illegal formation. There are two parts to this play. First, there is a flag for illegal formation because the right tackle is lined up in the backfield. To be legal, his helmet must be in line with the waistline of the snapper, which it clearly is not. Second, the center is beyond the 3 yard limit allowed at the time of the pass. This is legal here because the ball was first touched behind the line of scrimmage, so there is no foul for an ineligible player downfield.
• Illegal shift. A wide receiver goes in motion, and while he is still moving, the left tackle goes down into his three-point stance. The crew correctly flags this as an illegal shift, because two players are moving at the same time without becoming stationary for at least one full second before the snap. To be legal, the receiver in motion would have to stop and remain set for one full second prior to the snap.
• Offensive pass interference. An offensive receiver at the top of the formation tries to establish a position on the field to create traffic for his teammate. He is not clearly set before he makes contact with the defender, so offensive pass interference is the proper call. To be legal, the receiver must clearly gain and establish his position. The fact that he is looking back to the quarterback has no bearing on the decision.
• Blocking downfield/pylon. On a snap from the 6 yard line, a wide receiver comes inside and blocks a defender beyond the neutral zone while the pass is in the air. There is no foul because the pass was first touched behind the line of scrimmage, which the side judge correctly recognizes. The runner who scores never touches the ground in the end zone, so the ball must cross inside or over the pylon for the touchdown to count, and it clearly does.
• Pass or fumble. The quarterback is in the pocket and pump fakes, and the ball comes out and is ruled a fumble. A loose ball is a pass if it comes out at any point after the hand starts forward until the passer begins to bring the ball back toward his body. Here the hand comes forward initially, but then moves down to secure the ball or to stop himself before the ball comes loose. This is correctly ruled a fumble on the field and in replay.
• Out of bounds eligibility. On a pass to the end zone, the ball is first touched by a defender, and then a receiver steps out of bounds with his right foot while his left remains inbounds. The receiver goes on to make the catch, but the question is whether he is eligible to do so. The defender’s first touch removes any potential illegal touching foul, so the key is whether the receiver reestablished himself inbounds before touching the ball. He never did, so this is correctly ruled an incomplete pass.
• Forced out of bounds. On a similar play, the receiver is forced out of bounds by a defender, so he can become eligible again once he gets back in bounds before touching the pass. He does so in a reasonable amount of time, so the catch is good. A touch of the pass by another player does not matter here because of the force out. An official’s hat off indicates a player is out of bounds, but the official still has to rule whether he went out on his own or was forced out.