F*CK IOWA

I agree that plays are reviewed all the time, but if this is such as simple rule, then why did the near official not blow his whistle and stop the play the moment the EIU kid touched and had control of the ball? Which leads to all other types of questions, if the Minnesota players had tacked the EIU punt returner, would have it been called roughing the returner that had already motioned for a fair catch? Why was EIU not penalized 5 yards for advancing a ball that was determined to be a fair catch? There are two officials back for every punt, their job is to see and protect the returner, neither blew the play dead, if he had signaled for an invalid fair catch, then why did they not blow it dead then.

It could have been as simple as the near official thought it might have been an invalid fair catch, and wanted to wait for the play to play out and then check the replay to see if there was or not. They got the call correct, that is what is important, but lets look to make it easier for the officials for the next time this occurs.

The 20 years of rules meeting I have been to talk about rules and how they are going to be called just like this, they are always trying to take away judgement and intent away from the refs.
The officials literally said, they saw the possible invalid fair catch, but decided to wait and not blow play dead, because it is a reviewable play and they could review to make positive call.

Why cant people understand this.
 
Would that not be easier except for the 10-yard rule about kickoffs. Just like a kickoff, the ball is live unless motioned for a fair catch or crosses the goal line. Easy for everyone to see and understand, no intent of deception, it's just a live ball unless the hand is clearly above your head. You are not going to allow the kicking team to advance the ball or take possession of the ball, just down it.
Except the fair catch guidelines are the same for both Punt and kick, just where the ball is spotted after said fair catch is different.
 
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Yup. And it's only Monday. We need to pace ourselves. We've got a long week ahead of us.

In the meantime, here's an image we can all appreciate. If I'm not mistaken, it appears to be a photograph of AD Beth Getz after she fully came to grips with the Athletic Department she inherited:

View attachment 118376
Is the dude wearing a shirt that says I Love Ho Moms?
 
I agree that plays are reviewed all the time, but if this is such as simple rule, then why did the near official not blow his whistle and stop the play the moment the EIU kid touched and had control of the ball? Which leads to all other types of questions, if the Minnesota players had tacked the EIU punt returner, would have it been called roughing the returner that had already motioned for a fair catch? Why was EIU not penalized 5 yards for advancing a ball that was determined to be a fair catch? There are two officials back for every punt, their job is to see and protect the returner, neither blew the play dead, if he had signaled for an invalid fair catch, then why did they not blow it dead then.

It could have been as simple as the near official thought it might have been an invalid fair catch, and wanted to wait for the play to play out and then check the replay to see if there was or not. They got the call correct, that is what is important, but lets look to make it easier for the officials for the next time this occurs.

The 20 years of rules meeting I have been to talk about rules and how they are going to be called just like this, they are always trying to take away judgement and intent away from the refs.
If fumbling a ball is such a simple rule, why do officials not whistle the play dead if they think it is a fumble?

If catching the ball is a simple rule, why do officials miss the call?

If stepping out of bounds is a simple rule, why do officials need replay?

Officials are human. They make mistakes. That’s why we have replay. Another official can step in and say “we need to look at this again.” And guess what? They get the call RIGHT
 
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If fumbling a ball is such a simple rule, why do officials not whistle the play dead if they think it is a fumble?

If catching the ball is a simple rule, why do officials miss the call?

If stepping out of bounds is a simple rule, why do officials need replay?

Officials are human. They make mistakes. That’s why we have replay. Another official can step in and say “we need to look at this again.” And guess what? They get the call RIGHT

Edit: if Minnesota tackled him right away as there were 5 people around the returner when he caught the ball, replay likely would not step in. Why get replay involved if the ball would be spotted at the same spot or within a yard of the spot? That’s not using replay effectively

And on certain calls, when the consequences of blowing it dead are huge (such as a fumble, or a return like this) if a ref isn't 100% positive it is better to let it play out and go to review.

Flip it around: Lets say he didn't actually make an invalid signal but a ref thought he mightve. The ref blows it dead a few seconds after Dejean fields the ball, but enough for the fans to see he had an open path downfield for a TD. Review of it shows he should have been allowed to field it but its too late to fix the error. Iowa throws an interception on the next play and loses. Iowa fans would be livid that the potential game-winning play wasn't allowed to play out because the ref blew the whistle early.
 
If DeJean had caught that punt, instead of letting it hit the ground... could he have advanced it? If not, then it doesn't matter at all if you wave your hand above your head or not... right?

I thought this invalid catch rule was only for punts that hit the ground first.
 
That is why I am suggesting that it be a live ball unless the returner has waved his hand clearly above his head. Why make the official decide if the returner is trying to deceive the defenders or just running over to the ball? Make him chose hand up, dead ball, anything else, live ball.
How is having a ref make 2 judgement calls (is the hand waving and is the hand above the head) easier than 1 judgement call (is the hand waving)? I wouldn't be surprised if the current rule is the result of a change to an older rule just to make it easier on the refs.
 
Best part of KXNO morning rush is you got the trifecta: complaining about Kirk, complaining about Brian and complaining about refs. And for the bonus, you got complaints about Barta. That pretty well sums up the Hok fandom. Also, I learned that if every Big 10 OC had to abide by Brian’s contract, only four would keep their job (for points in Big 10 conference games only).
 
If DeJean had caught that punt, instead of letting it hit the ground... could he have advanced it? If not, then it doesn't matter at all if you wave your hand above your head or not... right?

I thought this invalid catch rule was only for punts that hit the ground first.
No. It doesn't matter if it bounces. As soon as he waved his hand, it's a dead ball as soon as Iowa fields it or Minnesota touches it. The only exception would be if there was a fumble (either DeJean muffing it or it touching another Iowa player).
 
The attention is obviously on Iowa and whether they got screwed, but if I were a Minnesota fan, and it didn’t go the way it did, I would have been unbelievably mad. You can see a couple of their guys slow up when DeJean is waving. If you allow him to wave like that, that just encourages players to try to toe the line of what is and isn’t a fair catch (to basically throw the other team off and cheat). This may have just been an innocent mistake, but it had to be called the way it was.
And this is exactly why the invalid fair catch rule is in there. Players previously would occasionally make a fair catch signal that wasn't over the head so it wasn't a valid signal and the officials knew it but the other team may not and would let up giving an unfair advantage to the return team.
 
I give the refs credit for making the correct call under a great deal of pressure....showed tremendous courage.

But I was disappointed they allowed the Hawkeye crowd to pelt the Minnesota bench with water bottles after the call was made. It was so bad that PJ had to move his players and coaches onto the field to avoid getting hit. PJ screamed at the refs for an unsportsman call, and he was 100% correct, but the refs allowed the riot to continue. Hawkeye fans showing their true colors .
The Big 10 better be leveling a hefty fine...
 
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Some Hok fans are saying "Then Minnesota should be penalized 15 yards for hitting a player that signaled for a fair catch!"

Umm.... no. The rulebook has a specific example for this. In fact, Iowa is lucky this 5 yard penalty was never assessed. Probably can't since it went to review.

fair_catch.png
 
If DeJean had caught that punt, instead of letting it hit the ground... could he have advanced it? If not, then it doesn't matter at all if you wave your hand above your head or not... right?

I thought this invalid catch rule was only for punts that hit the ground first.
No, the call was "invalid fair catch" which is about the signal for fair catch. The think people need to understand, There are 3 types. No signal, ball can be caught and advanced as normal. Valid Fair Catch, ball can be caught and dead at spot of catch. Invalid fair catch, anytime ball is touched by either team, ball dead at spot. Once a fair catch signal is called valid or invalid, the ball is dead when receiver touches it.

I believe a couple years ago, I saw a play where the receiver made an invalid fair catch signal, then touched the ball but DID NOT grab it, and the other team jumped on it, thinking they got a muff punt. But the rule came down that because of the invalid fair catch signal the ball was down the instant the receiving team touched it, and was given to the receiving team at that spot.
For some reason I believe that was in an ISU game, and people were upset but it didnt get near the traction as this. People realized that was the rule and it was over.

People at that time if I remember thought it was dumb, why not just always call an invalid fair catch, signal, so you never worry about muffs, but for some reason that was not practical I guess. But I am not sure I remember the exact scenario right.

In that case I dont know if just touching it vs possessing it makes a difference to the rules, but I have read directly in the rules where it says "anytime there is an invalid fair catch signal, the ball is dead when either team TOUCHES it."

So take it for what it is, meaning, once that fair catch or invalid fair catch signal is given, the ball can not be advanced, period, regardless if it is in air or bouncing. How it officially is down whether actually possession or just Touching is questionable. similar to when the kicking team downs the ball, usually they make you actually grab it, not just slap it/touch it to officially down it.
 
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So take it for what it is, meaning, once that fair catch or invalid fair catch signal is given, the ball can not be advanced, period, regardless if it is in air or bouncing. How it officially is down whether actually possession or just Touching is questionable. similar to when the kicking team downs the ball, usually they make you actually grab it, not just slap it/touch it to officially down it.

Actually, if the kicking team is the first one to touch a punt, it’s technically a penalty (illegal touching) with the penalty being the receiving team gets the ball at the point it was first touched. The reason officials let the ball roll/bounce until it stops is because the return team always has the right to grab the ball and try a return, even after it’s been touched by the kicking team (invalid fair catch signals excepted).

(This is also why the argument that punts are ‘dead balls’ is silly; even after being touched by the kicking team, the return team has the right to try to return it until the officials whistle it dead once it stops moving. Again, invalid fair catch signals excluded.)

This is why you very rarely see a returner grab a rolling/bouncing punt after it’s been touched by the kicking team and try to return it (maybe after bouncing off a foot or something). The upside is you might get a decent return, which counts; but even if you lose yardage or fumble on the attempted return, the receiving team can elect to take possession at the point where it was touched.
 
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On KCRG in CR just a few minutes ago... they asked both Marvin McNutt and Scott Dochtermann about it... and they looked like fools.

McNutt said it was a horrible call and that DeJean's hand was nowhere near above his head. No s**t idiot... you still have no idea what was called 2 days later? Get a clue buddy.

And Dochtermann talked about when he used to run, a long time ago, he flailed his arms too. OMG! You seriously believe that's how DeJean Cooper runs? We've all seen him run a LOT this season Scott.... and he looks nothing like that.
These people are seriously deranged. They CANNOT just accept that Iowa lost a football game fair and square to Minnesota and PJ Fleck. The arrogance is so off the charts.
 

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