Illegal Touching in NCAA Football: A Comprehensive Guide

Illegal touching is a penalty in NCAA football that often causes confusion among fans and even some players. This article aims to clarify the intricacies of the illegal touching rule, providing examples and explanations to enhance understanding.

What Constitutes Illegal Touching?

The core principle behind illegal touching revolves around the eligibility of a player to touch a forward pass. NCAA football rules clearly define who can legally touch the football. Generally, illegal touching occurs when an ineligible player touches a legal forward pass before it has been touched by an opponent or an official.

Josh Cohn, a student at Rochester Institute of Technology, explains that on any given offensive play, there are eligible and non-eligible receivers. Eligible receivers are allowed to catch passes from the quarterback, while non-eligible receivers are not. Running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers are typically eligible to catch a pass on any play.

Scenarios Leading to Illegal Touching

There are specific scenarios in which an illegal touching penalty can occur:

Ineligible Player Touching a Pass: An originally ineligible player may not intentionally touch a legal forward pass until it has touched an opponent or an official.
Receiver Going Out of Bounds: It’s illegal for receivers to voluntarily run out of bounds, return inbounds, and then be the first person to touch the football. If forced out of bounds by a defensive player, a receiver can remain legal by immediately returning in bounds and re-establishing a legal position on the field. Otherwise, they must let another player (from either team) touch the ball first.

The "Covered Up" Conundrum

One of the most confusing aspects of illegal touching involves the concept of a player being "covered up." This typically refers to a situation where an offensive player on the line of scrimmage is not the player on the end of the line. In nearly every play from scrimmage, the offensive tackle is not an eligible receiver because there is someone (TE or WR) who is on the line of scrimmage between him and the sideline. Of all the players on the line of scrimmage, on the one of the far left and the one on the far right are eligible to go downfield and catch a pass. To make a tackle eligible to receive a pass, they make sure everyone between the tackle between and the sideline is OFF the line of scrimmage.

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Examples and Rulings

Here are some examples and rulings related to illegal touching in NCAA football, based on provided scenarios:

Example 1: Free Kick Scenarios

Scenario: The ball blows off the tee during a free kick. All of Team A's teammates line up to the kicker's left, and A12 lines up near the ball. Team A is offside during its free kick.
Ruling: This scenario involves multiple infractions. Team A is offside, and the unusual alignment might raise questions about illegal formation. The penalty could involve Team A re-kicking at the A-30. The spot where the ball does not belong to Team B when the down ends.

Example 2: Player Crossing Sideline

Scenario: A player, B17, crosses the sideline during a play.
Ruling: Team B will have the ball at the yard line where B17 crossed the sideline.

Example 3: Fumble Recovery

Scenario: A20 picks up a fumble and scores.
Ruling: Five- and 10-yard penalties are not administered on the try or the succeeding kickoff.

Example 4: Touching of the Ball

Scenario: B48’s touching of the ball allows Team A to recover legally.
Ruling: This is a legal recovery for Team A due to B48's touching the ball.

Example 5: Touchback

Scenario: The ball rolls into the end zone and out of bounds at the B-4.
Ruling: Touchback.

Example 6: Kick-Catch Interference

Scenario: Punt receiver B44 is standing at his 30-yard line in position to catch the kick. A11 enters the one-yard area directly in front of receiver B44.
Ruling: Foul for kick-catch interference. Team A’s ball, first and 10 at the B-25. Penalty-15 yards from the spot of the foul.

Example 7: Fourth Down Play

Scenario: Fourth and five at the A-30. A player does not affect B22’s opportunity to catch the ball.
Ruling: No foul because the player did not interfere with the opportunity to catch the ball.

Example 8: Illegal Signal

Scenario: Various scenarios involving signals.
Ruling: Invalid signal.

Example 9: Safety

Scenario: Various scenarios.
Ruling: Safety.

Example 10: Illegal Batting

Scenario: On an option play that turned into a fumble, the offensive player bats the ball out of bounds to avoid losing possession.
Ruling: A foul for illegal batting was incorrectly called, as the bat was “lateral at best.” For it to be a foul, it must clearly be batted forward (or anywhere in the end zone).

Example 11: Alabama vs. Oklahoma Controversy

In a game between Alabama and Oklahoma, Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams had a touchdown nullified due to an illegal touching penalty. Officials ruled Williams was covered on the play, making him an "originally ineligible player." However, replays seemed to show Williams wasn't covered. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer mentioned postgame that "They said it was illegal touching, so someone had to have been covered up, (making him) ineligible."

According to Rule 12, Article 8 of NCAA Football rule book, illegal touching is a reviewable call. However, the language doesn't specify whether the call on the field can be overturned - only that a "replay official may create a foul when there is no call by the on-field officials."

Illegal Touching vs. Other Penalties

It's important to differentiate illegal touching from other penalties. For example, illegal touching requires the underlying pass to be legal.

Instant Replay and Illegal Touching

Instant replay plays a role in reviewing illegal touching calls. According to replay stats, there is an average of 2.08 stops per game in FBS, with an average of 1 overturn per game. The total time per stop is 1:51.

Special Teams and Illegal Touching

Illegal touching can also occur on special teams plays. For example, if a punt bounces in the field of play and is batted out of the end zone by a kicking team player while standing in the end zone, it's a first touch violation. The receiving team can accept the outcome of the return or take the first touch spot, resulting in a touchback.

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