NCAA Approves 15 yard penalty for hitting QBs below knee

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The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which met via conference call Wednesday, approved a new football rule to better protect passers from low contact at or below the knee.

The rule specifically covers a scenario in which a quarterback is in a passing posture with one or both feet on the ground. In that situation, no defensive player rushing unabated can hit him forcibly at or below the knee. The defensive player also may not initiate a roll or lunge and forcibly hit the quarterback in the knee area or below.

Exceptions for these types of hits occur when:

the passer becomes a runner, either inside or outside the tackle box;
the defender grabs or wraps the passer in an attempt to make a conventional tackle;
the defender is not rushing unabated or is blocked or fouled into the passer.
A violation of this rule applies when defenders are rushing unabated to the quarterback, and it will result in a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty.

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