I don't think he dropped it.someone knocked it out of his hand that's why he
turned to the ref he thought he drew penalty.
I don't know about the penalty speculation there, but otherwise, I think you're onto something.
The official did not rule the way he did because the player didn't "take a knee" as the announcer keeps saying, but because the player never created a "dead" ball situation by indicating that he wasn't going to attempt to advance the ball out of the end zone (the usual way to do that is, of course, to "take a knee," but it is not the only way).
For what it's worth, I went through the NCAA Football Rule book (
http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/FR09.pdf) and couldn't find anywhere that it says a player on the receiving team HAS to take a knee to create a touchback because of a "dead" ball (if you can find it, please point the page out to me as I word searched the file and couldn't find it).
If he had just handed the ball to the official, then, by rule, the ball is dead (any ball that touches an official is automatically "dead" and a "dead" ball in the endzone is the definition of a "touchback").
However, before he could do so (and I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt that this was his intention or he really is as IQ-challenged as some are suggesting here), the player from the kicking team knocked the ball out of his hand.
If you think about it, players either take a knee or toss/hand the ball to an official after a kickoff in order to create a "dead" ball, which, in the End Zone, defines the circumstances necessary to create a "touchback." I also believe, but am not certain, that his other option would have been to toss the ball out of bounds, which would also creates a "dead" ball and, under the circumstances, a "touchback," but would appreciate being corrected on that if I am wrong.
So, the official ruled that the player on the receiving team could have been pulling a "fumblerooski" kind of move and was possibly going to start running after the kicking team was lulled into stopping their pursuit of the receiver.
In any event, the receiver was at best sloppy by not securing the ball before handing it to the official or by not otherwise creating a "dead" ball situation and, therefore, a touchback.
