College Football Illegal Touching Rule Explained

In Saturday's marquee matchup between the top two college football teams in the nation, LSU tight end Thaddeus Moss (son of NFL legend Randy Moss) made a spectacular jumping catch inside the Alabama two-yard line.

The only problem? He stepped out of bounds before catching the ball, which is grounds for illegal touching; therefore, the play should not have been ruled as a catch.

In case you need to brush up on your rules, one of the ways illegal touching is defined is when "on a forward pass, the receiver steps out of bounds and doesn't re-establish himself in bounds before catching the pass."

That's exactly what happened here with Moss, as he clearly stepped out of bounds as shown by the pylon camera. However, officials ruled he was forced out, meaning the play could not be reviewed by rule.

The only way a catch could be ruled on that play is if Moss had been pushed or shoved out of bounds. If that were to be the case, he would have had to re-enter the field of play with both feet to re-establish himself as an eligible receiver.

Might this be another instance of the incompetency of the NCAA's referees? Perhaps, but let's not take away too much from one of the best catches in college football this year, even though it shouldn't have counted.