#6 Georgia Southern @ #1 North Dakota State

[Ibanez]

Great game last night! I was impressed with both schools. I'm betting NDSU takes out Eastern Washington.

[tcbison]

Again great game last night! Here are a few things to chew on.
-NDSU's extra point was blocked in the 1st quarter. IF that didn't happen NDSU would have kicked a FG to tie the game at 20 instead of going for it on 4th and 3. Game would have changed so much GSU would have still had 1 or 2 time outs and would have been playing for OT or to take the lead vs come from behind mode.

-NDSU's punt block attempt. Momentum was clearly on NDSU's side at the time (fumble, TD, 3 and out) and you can't blame the coaches for going for the block after already getting a blocked EXP. GSU's punters leg did hit the NDSU's player on the way down and the call was the right one. IF NDSU played it safe and set up a return vs a block they would have had the lead and would have been a first down away for FG range to extend their lead.

-GSU's penalties. Second half could have been dominated by GSU if it wasn't for all the penalties! Many false starts put them in 3rd and longs and killed a few drives where they were rolling. Russel's late hit on the QB was a fair but questionable call. Had he gave the QB a shove down vs driving him down below the waist it would have been a no call. After that he was called for I think 1 or 2 more personal foul 15 yd calls that aided NDSU to come back. GSU had 8 penalties for 108 yards and most of them killed drives or helped NDSU on scoring drives.

Can't wait for today's game!

On the punt block the coach's didn't call for the block but the player rushed and there was no one to block him so he went for the block. The coaches were not happy at all about it. Football can be a game of inches and that play swung the momentum back to GSU.

GSU came out with a great game plan on offense and executed it very well. They were really pushing NDSU around like I haven't seen in years and their passing game was huge as well. It was a great game that could have went either way.

[JohnStOnge]

You know, I still haven't seen anybody cite the rule about it being a personal foul if you graze the punters kicking foot. Like I said, I won't be shocked if those who say it is are correct. But I've been through stuff like this before where somebody says something is a rule then if you actually look at the NCAA football rule book it's not.

I am not going to do it. I'm not going to download the NCAA football rule book. You guys said it's the rule. So you guys ought to be able to cite the rulebook to support what you said. Just take the time to do it.

[JohnStOnge]

OK I said I wouldn't do it but I did. I went to the NCAA rule book and got the rule on roughing or running into the kicker. It's totally subjective and says nothing at all about whether the kicking foot is contacted or not. I also did a find on "leg" and one on "foot" to search the whole damn rule book including the part where they give examples and say what the ruling would be and unless I zoned out and missed one while repeatedly hitting the enter key to find the next occurrence of "leg" or "foot" there isn't a single reference in the whole damn thing to contacting a kicker's leg or foot. The only stuff in it about contacting with legs or feet is when it talks about when a player kicks another player. I got it from http://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4229- ... ation.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

So once again it looks like people telling me something is a rule..that they "went by the book"...when it's not in the book.

Here is the rule:

Roughing or Running Into Kicker or Holder
ARTICLE 16. a. When it is obvious that a scrimmage kick will be made, no
opponent shall run into or rough the kicker or the holder of a place kick (A.R.
9-1-16-I, III and VI).
1. Roughing is a live-ball personal foul that endangers the kicker or holder.
2. Running into the kicker or holder is a live-ball foul that occurs when the
kicker or holder is displaced from his kicking or holding position but is
not roughed (A.R. 9-1-16-II). Note: Running into the kicker carries a
five-yard penalty.
3. Incidental contact with a kicker or holder is not a foul.
4. The kicker’s protection under this rule ends (a)when he has had a
reasonable time to regain his balance(A.R. 9-1-16-IV); or (b)when he
carries the ball outside the tackle box (Rule 2-34) before kicking.
5. When a defensive player’s contact against the kicker or holder is caused
by an opponent’s block (legal or illegal), there is no foul for running into
or roughing.
6. A player who makes contact with the kicker or holder after touching the
kick is not charged with running into or roughing the kicker.
7. When a player other than one who blocks a scrimmage kick runs into or
roughs the kicker or holder, it is a foul.
8. When in question whether the foul is running into or roughing, the foul
is roughing.
b. A kicker or holder simulating being roughed or run into by a defensive
player commits an unsportsmanlike act (A.R. 9-1-16-V).
PENALTY—15 yards from the previous spot [S27].

That guy did not "endanger" the kicker. He barely touched the kicker's foot. The kicker could very easily have remained standing with no risk of injury at all. He took a dive. Frankly, in looking at the rule above, I think that was "incidental contact" and the punter should have been penalized for simulating being roughed or run into. Though I've never seen that called. They need to start calling it because it's pretty obvious that kickers do that all the time.