National Coordinator of Officials breaks down Alabama's viral Kadyn Proctor catch vs. Georgia

Kadyn Proctor lived out every offensive lineman’s dream when Alabama‘s 6-foot-7, 366-pound junior tackle muscled his way to a first down on his first career carry late in the second quarter of last Saturday’s 24-21 upset at Georgia. The Crimson Tide’s hulking big man nearly made it into the end zone on an 11-yard catch-and-run from the Bulldogs’ 13-yard line before being tackled out of bounds at the 2.
It was a trick play — ruled a run because it was deemed a backwards pass — that Alabama (3-1, 1-0 SEC) had in the works for weeks. It helped set up a two-yard touchdown run from quarterback Ty Simpson one play later to take a 24-14 lead entering halftime in Athens.
NCAA National Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw explained why the play worked during his weekly breakdown of key plays from the prior weekend posted to X/Twitter. Shaw also revealed how Proctor was deemed eligible to make the play despite NCAA rules generally restricting offensive linemen from catching passes in college football games.
“We get an odd formation. We see No. 74 (Proctor) shift out wide to the left and he lines up in the backfield. Now this is a legal formation as the offense has the required five players, numbers 50-79 on the line, and no more than four players in the backfield. Then we see the quarterback (Simpson) goes under center, takes the snap and throws to No. 74, who rumbles down the sideline,” Shaw explained over video of the play. “Now, to be an eligible receiver, you must be lined up on the end of the line or be a ‘back, and have an eligible number, which is 0-49 (and) 80-99. (Players numbered) 50-79 can never be eligible receivers, but eligibility rules apply only to a legal forward pass. And any player is eligible to receive a backwards pass.
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“As we look again, the quarterback is going to release the ball right at the 15 ½ (yard line) and No. 74 is first going to touch the pass back at the 16 ½, so the pass is clearly backwards, (making) the catch and advance by No. 74 legal,” Shaw continued. “One final note, unlike the NFL rules, a player numbered 50-79 can’t report in and become eligible. Under NCAA rules, players numbered 50-79 can never be eligible to catch a legal forward pass unless a player on the defense first touches the pass.”
As Shaw explained, Proctor was eligible to catch the pass from Simpson because it was technically thrown behind the line of scrimmage, effectively making it a lateral, which is why it went down as a run and not a reception in the scorebook. It’s also what made the play legal for Proctor to catch and advance the ball despite NCAA rules restricting offensive linemen from being eligible receivers.