College football changes roughing-the-punter rule after controversial win by Kentucky in 2022

Kentucky’s controversial win over Missouri in 2022 has led to a rule change in college football.

SEC officiating coordinator John McDaid said Tuesday that opposing players can no longer be called for running into or roughing a kicker or punter if the kicker or punter is more than 5 yards from where he was originally standing when the play began. The change comes after Missouri was called for a roughing-the-kicker penalty after a botched snap by the Wildcats late in Kentucky’s win a season ago.

If you don’t remember what happened last November, we’re here to help. Kentucky led 21-17 with 2:25 to go and was punting the ball to Missouri. The punt snap sailed over Kentucky punter Colin Goodfellow and almost bounced into the end zone. Goodfellow chased down the snap and got off a kick to UK’s own 35-yard-line just before he was clobbered by Missouri’s Will Norris as Norris tried to chase down Goodfellow and the ball.

Since Norris hit Goodfellow after the kick, he was called for roughing the punter. Instead of Missouri taking over at the 35 with a chance for a game-winning touchdown, Kentucky got an automatic first down and ran more time off the clock to seal the four-point win.

How will this affect rugby punts?

The errant snap situation that happened in the Kentucky-Mizzou game doesn’t appear to impact rugby punts. Based on the wording of the rule, players who roll out to the right or left and attempt a fairly common rugby-style punt will not lose any protection from being run into or roughed unless they move 5 yards back from where they previously were.

Here’s how the rule reads in the updated rulebook. The usage of the word “behind” makes it clear that a player can move more than 5 yards laterally and keep his protection as long as he stays within the tackle box.