Kentucky’s controversial victory over Missouri in 2022 led to a rule change in college football.
SEC umpiring coordinator John McDaid said on Tuesday opposing players can no longer be called for hitting or roughing up a kicker or bettor if the kicker or bettor is more than five yards from the spot. where he originally stood when the game started. The change comes after Missouri was called for a rough kicker penalty after a sloppy snap by the Wildcats late in Kentucky’s win a season ago.
If you can’t remember what happened last November, we’re here to help. Kentucky led 21-17 with 2:25 to go and sent the ball to Missouri. The punt sailed past Kentucky punter Colin Goodfellow and nearly bounced into the end zone. Goodfellow chased the snap and kicked the United Kingdom’s own 35-yard line just before being beaten by Missouri’s Will Norris as Norris tried to chase Goodfellow and the ball.
Since Norris hit Goodfellow after the kick, he has been called out for roughing up the punter. Instead of Missouri taking over at 35 with a game-winning touchdown chance, Kentucky got an automatic first down and ran more time out of time to seal the four-point victory.
How will this affect rugby punts?
The errant breaking situation that occurred in the Kentucky-Mizzou game does not appear to be impacting rugby clearances. Based on the wording of the rule, players who roll to the right or left and attempt a fairly common rugby-style punt will lose no protection from being hit or roughed up unless they step back five yards compared to where they were before.
This is how the rule reads in the updated rulebook. The use of the word “behind” makes it clear that a player can move more than five meters laterally and retain protection as long as they remain in the tackle box.
“The kicker’s protection under this rule ends (a) when the kicker has had a reasonable time to recover his balance, (b) when the kicker carries or possesses the ball outside the tackle box before kick or (c) when the kicker carries or possesses the ball more than five meters behind the kicker’s original position at the time of the snap of the scrimmage kick formation.