Inches Away

6 years ago

This is probably a poor depiction of reality, but it’s also as close as I could get. The camera angle on ESPN was literally the worst angle possible for re-creating something like this but I gave it my best shot.

Here’s Quinn Sharp’s field goal in the fourth quarter with the goal post extended up. As you can see, not all of the football is clear of my faux yellow line.

The NCAA rule book offers this explanation:

The crossbar and uprights are treated as a line, not a plane, in determining forward progress of the ball.

It goes on to say that all boundary lines are “out of bounds.”

So according to the letter of the law, I think the zebras nailed this one. Now if the posts had been about 15 feet higher, maybe OSU could have been lent a fortuitous bounce (Lord knows they could have used one).

Alas, we all looked like this for the rest of the game.

Cowpoke

Probably the right call.

And had it been LSU, Bama, OU, or Iowa State, the opposite call would have been made.
Jeremy

So, the goal LINE is a plane, but the goal POST is a line?
- Kyle Porter
  
  According to the rule book, yes.
  - PattyB
    
    Too confusing, IMO. The rules should be consistent!
pokefan928

Dan Bailey’s GW kick yesterday for Dallas was eerily similar, but it was considered good. I wonder if the NFL rulebook is different than the NCAA.
Adam S.

I was at the game and it looked good to me. It went out to the right and then bent back in.
Jon

It stinks because 2 of Sharp’s 3 misses have been over the upright. It’s almost like he has to kick it lower to help the refs out because he has such a leg.

Of course, it’s not just on Quinn, I said it many times, we played our worst game of the year and they played their best. It still took two overtimes to beat us….we have a great team and hopefully the stars align and we are still able to go to the NC!
Colin

Actually, the photo is inconclusive. You’ve made a effort to maintain the perspective when extending the goal lines, but you really can’t be sure of the ball’s position with relation to the end line, so the effort is wasted.

A ball is between 10 and 11 inches long, and the camera is at least 50 feet away from the ball at this point (the goal posts are at least 30′ high by NCAA rule). The camera has a significant offset from the post, so there’s parallax error involved. There’s simply not enough information in the photo to determine anything, though drawing the extra line on it certainly does a good job of messing with one’s brain.
Kent

If the ball passes to the inside or directly over the top of the pole it is good according to the rules.