On Further Review - Big 10 Football

BrooklynDodger brings this up because the MSU-UoM game nearly turned on this exact play.  Chad Henne, UoM quarterback, was hit while throwing, it was called a fumble, MSU ran it back for a touch, leading eventually to overtime, in which UoM eventually prevailed.

There was a long replay interval, in which the TV guys never mentioned the tuck rule.  The play was even more clearly under the tuck rule than the instance described below, because Henne did not touch the ball with his non-throwing hand.  It was an incomplete pass.  But the officials ruled a fumble.

BrooklynDodger concedes not to know the NCAA interpretation of this rule.

As BD confessed previously, the Dodger was leaning to MSU in that game because of Big 10 prospects, but came out of it with thoughts that maybe UoM had a shot.  No longer.

Now Penn State comes to Ann Arbor.  PSU has a very good shot based on record, although the offense is pretty lame.  

Penn State graduates 82% of its students overall, 68% of its football players, and 70% of its black football players.  For UoM it’s 84%, 68% overall football but only 47% of black football players [and 100% of the whites].  The UoM numbers are discrepant enough to warrant further review.  However, based on the graduation rates, BD would have to go with PSU today.

[Minnesota graduates in the 50% range overall, 38% for football.  Ohio State numbers]

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Tuck Rule Hard to Grasp
By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff WriterSaturday, October 15, 2005; Page E01
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The 63 words that comprise the tuck rule may be the trickiest in the NFL rule book. They hardly rival Shakespeare and yet, syllable for syllable, they nearly match the Bard for tragedy.
Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2, Note 2 carries the nugget:
"When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his hand starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble."
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Under the rule, a quarterback's throwing motion begins when he raises the ball in his hand and begins to move his arm forward; that motion doesn't end until the quarterback tucks the ball back against his body, making him a runner. If the ball comes loose any time in between, it's an incomplete pass, not a fumble. Only if the quarterback reloads -- and raises the ball again to start a new throwing motion -- can he fumble, as long as the ball is knocked loose before his arm begins to move forward again.
The furor over the Brady play in the AFC title game in 2002 led the NFL competition committee to consider changing the tuck rule, but it never happened. Brady lost the ball on a hit by blitzing Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson with less than two minutes remaining and the Patriots trailing, 13-10. The Raiders recovered the fumble. But an instant-replay review showed that, while Brady had brought the ball back to chest level and was touching it with both hands, he hadn't tucked the ball back into his body. Referee Walt Coleman called an incomplete pass and gave possession to the Patriots, who tied the game in regulation on kicker Adam Vinatieri's 45-yard field goal and won it in overtime on another Vinatieri kick.