National Coordinator of Officials explains why Penn State fake kneel should have been ruled dead
The outcome of the game was already well in hand, but the touchdown that Penn State scored with just more than two minutes to go against Northwestern in a win on Saturday apparently should not have counted. All because of a fake knee from backup quarterback Beau Pribula.
National coordinator of officials Steve Shaw explained the missed call during a rules breakdown posted by the SEC Officiating account on X. Basically, the play where Pribula deked the defense by appearing to take a knee should’ve been blown dead as he did so.
“The quarterback is back in shotgun formation. He’s going to take the snap. He fakes forward. The right knee is dangerously close to the ground. But then he’s going to step back and he throws a pass downfield for, which is caught for an apparent touchdown. Now, there are many ways that a live ball can be declared dead. But, by rule, when a ball carrier simulates placing their knee on the ground, the ball becomes dead,” Shaw said.
The rule, he added, was partially with the intent of prevent a quarterback from being hit in a vulnerable position.
And the formation — Penn State was in the shotgun — doesn’t matter.
“And this was really put in place to keep a quarterback from faking a knee down, usually from under center, and then stepping back and throwing a pass downfield. But, it can be from any formation or any position. So, if the ball carrier simulates a knee down, which is what we had here, the officials should kill the play and declare the ball dead at that point,” Shaw said.
The outcome of the game was already well in hand, but the touchdown that Penn State scored with just more than two minutes to go against Northwestern in a win on Saturday apparently should not have counted. All because of a fake knee from backup quarterback Beau Pribula.
National coordinator of officials Steve Shaw explained the missed call during a rules breakdown posted by the SEC Officiating account on X. Basically, the play where Pribula deked the defense by appearing to take a knee should’ve been blown dead as he did so.
“The quarterback is back in shotgun formation. He’s going to take the snap. He fakes forward. The right knee is dangerously close to the ground. But then he’s going to step back and he throws a pass downfield for, which is caught for an apparent touchdown. Now, there are many ways that a live ball can be declared dead. But, by rule, when a ball carrier simulates placing their knee on the ground, the ball becomes dead,” Shaw said.
The rule, he added, was partially with the intent of prevent a quarterback from being hit in a vulnerable position.
And the formation — Penn State was in the shotgun — doesn’t matter.
“And this was really put in place to keep a quarterback from faking a knee down, usually from under center, and then stepping back and throwing a pass downfield. But, it can be from any formation or any position. So, if the ball carrier simulates a knee down, which is what we had here, the officials should kill the play and declare the ball dead at that point,” Shaw said.
