A New “Kentucky Rule,” College Football Changes Roughing the Kicker
Kentucky desperately needed a win on the road at Missouri. The Wildcats did not bring their A-game to Columbia, yet still clung to a 21-17 lead with 2:34 on the clock. Unable to get a first down, the punt team entered the game and fireworks ensued.
The snap skied high over Colin Goodfellow’s head. The UK punter scrambled and corralled the ball inside the 5-yard line. Somehow, he was able to scoop the ball and get off a kick. The ball barely made it back to the original line of scrimmage. Missouri thought the field was flipped in their favor. That was not the case.
In the mad dash for the football, a Missouri defended speared Goodfellow just after he launched the ball off his foot. The hit sidelined Goodfellow for the rest of the season. Officials flagged the Tigers for roughing the kicker. Even though the snap traveled nearly 40 yards down the field, Goodfellow was still in the tackle box when he kicked the ball. Kentucky received 15 yards and an automatic first down, essentially securing the Wildcats’ eighth win over Missouri in nine tries.
The rule that saved the day for UK is no longer a rule.
New Roughing the Kicker Rule Change
SEC’s director of officiating John McDaid elaborated a few new rule changes coming to college football this fall, like the changes to the clock. The new revelation is that roughing the kicker or punter will no longer be applied if the kicker is “displaced more than five yards” where he was originally standing when the ball was snapped. This rule change essentially eliminates a bad snap loophole.
This is the second time in four years that Kentucky football has served as a catalyst for a college football rule change. Before the Belk Bowl Lynn Bowden threw hands with a few Virginia Tech Hokies prior to pregame warm-ups. The following season officials changed rules requiring players to have numbers on their warm-up shirts to identify individuals and expanded the pre and postgame window to issue penalties.
Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football program is changing the game. It’s undeniable.
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