College football changes roughing-the-punter rule after controversial win by Kentucky in 2022
Missouri was called for roughing the punter for hitting Kentucky's Colin Goodfellow after he chased down an errant snap and kicked the ball
Kentucky’s controversial win over Missouri in 2022 has led to a rule change in college football.
SEC officiating coordinator John McDaid said Tuesday that opposing players can no longer be called for running into or roughing a kicker or punter if the kicker or punter is more than 5 yards from where he was originally standing when the play began. The change comes after Missouri was called for a roughing-the-kicker penalty after a botched snap by the Wildcats late in Kentucky’s win a season ago.
CFB rule change via SEC's John McDaid: running into/roughing the kicker not called if kicker is "displaced more than five yards" from where he was originally standing. This can be called the Missouri-Kentucky Rule, after the roughing the kicker call that changed that game in 2022
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 18, 2023
If you don’t remember what happened last November, we’re here to help. Kentucky led 21-17 with 2:25 to go and was punting the ball to Missouri. The punt snap sailed over Kentucky punter Colin Goodfellow and almost bounced into the end zone. Goodfellow chased down the snap and got off a kick to UK’s own 35-yard-line just before he was clobbered by Missouri’s Will Norris as Norris tried to chase down Goodfellow and the ball.
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) November 5, 2022
Since Norris hit Goodfellow after the kick, he was called for roughing the punter. Instead of Missouri taking over at the 35 with a chance for a game-winning touchdown, Kentucky got an automatic first down and ran more time off the clock to seal the four-point win.
How will this affect rugby punts?
The errant snap situation that happened in the Kentucky-Mizzou game doesn’t appear to impact rugby punts. Based on the wording of the rule, players who roll out to the right or left and attempt a fairly common rugby-style punt will not lose any protection from being run into or roughed unless they move 5 yards back from where they previously were.
Here’s how the rule reads in the updated rulebook. The usage of the word “behind” makes it clear that a player can move more than 5 yards laterally and keep his protection as long as he stays within the tackle box.
“The kicker’s protection under this rule ends (a) when the kicker has had a reasonable time to regain their balance, (b) when the kicker carries or possesses the ball outside the tackle box before kicking or (c) when the kicker carries or possesses the ball more than five yards behind the kicker’s initial position at the snap from scrimmage kick formation.”
