Iowa/Northern Iowa finish

[StanleySpadowski]

I love DTV and the Big Ten Network showing so many games.....

Iowa nearly lost on an unusual play.

Down 17-16 with :07 left, Northern Iowa opted to kick a go ahead 40 yarder on second down because they were out of time outs. Iowa blocked the kick. Visions of Leon Lett must have danced in Iowa's heads because there were players keeping other Hawkeyes away. The only problem was that the ball never crossed the line of scrimmage so Northern Iowa retained the ball with :01 left on the stopped clock.

Iowa was lucky they blocked the second try.....

 

[Rogah]

I think the referees messed up and here's why...

A blocked (or otherwise missed) FG that goes in advance of the line of scrimmage is essentially treated as a punt - with the exception that if the team on defense doesn't touch the ball they can return it to the line of scrimmage (or the 20 yard line) instead of the dead ball spot (in the NFL this goes to the spot of the kick and not the line of scrimmage). The defense can catch or recover any such kick and return it. And like any punt, if they touch the ball it would be the same as muffing a punt and it is a loose ball.

But yes, I realize that that isn't what happened here.

What happened here was the kick was blocked behind the line of scrimmage (actually, it rolled forward of the line of scrimmage before coming back). At this point it is essentially treated as a fumble, either team can recover or advance the ball. Normally FGs are kicked on 4th down so the play we saw today would result in a change of possession. However this kick was attempted on 1st down, so when Northern Iowa recovered, it simply went to 2nd down.

So IMHO, here's where the referees messed up: They should not have stopped the clock. The ball didn't go out of bounds, there was no change of possession, no points were scored, no flags on the play, there was no first down, and no time outs were called. It was just a fumble recovered by the offense, which doesn't stop the clock.