Once upon a time a football player scored a touchdown when he ran into the end zone with the ball or, if he were tackled near the goal line, the ball wound up over that line in his possession.

Somewhere along the line, the concept of "breaking the plane" was born. What is "breaking the plane"? Well, if you Google it, you'll find:

"In all gridiron codes, the touchdown is scored the instant the ball touches or 'breaks' the plane of the front of the goal line (that is, if any part of the ball is in the space on, above, or across the goal line) while in the possession of a player whose team is trying to score in that end zone."

Whether the ball actually breaks the plane is often a judgment call, and whether a player deserves to score six points by waving the ball over the goal line, even if he winds up tackled or out of bounds a yard or two short is a matter of debate. Unfortunately, I've yet to hear an announcer or analyst question this questionable rule or rant about the actual difference between a touchdown and a planebreaker.

THERE WAS a perfect excuse for such a rant recently when underdog Auburn was leading Georgia, 10-0, with an opportunity to score another touchdown. But when Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold dove for the goal line, on the backs of his linemen, the ball was punched loose by Georgia players C. J. Allen and Raylen Wilson and wound up in the hands of another Georgia player, Kyron Jones, who began running down the field, hesitated, then was urged to continue all the way to the other end zone, to possibly score a touchdown for his team.

Then the fun began as game officials reviewed the play for about ten minutes, which meant TV viewers were treated to many replays of Arnold's effort to score for Auburn.

Announcer Sean McDonough focused on whether Jackson had possession of the ball when it broke the plane, in which case it would have been an Auburn touchdown, because the silly rule says a touchdown is scored the instant the ball touches the invisible plane.

BUT HERE'S the thing. When did the ball come loose? Officials finally decided the quarterback lost control of the ball before he broke the plane. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but I believe the officials upheld the real meaning of a touchdown because Jackson did not have possession of the ball when the play was blown dead.

(Likewise, I believe it is not a touchdown when a player falls across the goal line and drops the ball after he has broken the plane, but before he hits the ground. After he hits the ground, it's another matter, since announcers love to remind us the ground can't cause a fumble, which isn't exactly true, but I'm not going to get into the exceptions to that rule.)

When this play in the Auburn-Georgia game was blown dead was as controversial as the ruling about the fumble ... because the Georgia player who recovered that fumble clearly turned and ran without his knee touching the ground. Why wasn't his touchdown allowed?

I imagine it was because a whistle was blown immediately after the fumble recovery, ruling the play dead. So while I was rooting for Auburn, I thought it was Georgia that got robbed by the officials on that play.

HOWEVER, later in the game, Georgia was given two touchdowns that, in my mind, really weren't touchdowns, though the Bulldogs probably would have scored on the next play.

First, Georgia running back Chauncey Bowens was credited with a touchdown though he was tackled short of the goal line. However, on his way to the ground, his ball-carrying arm passed over the goal line, about 24 inches off the turf.

The second "touchdown" was given quarterback Gunner Stockton who passed over a corner of the end zone and landed out of bounds. During Stockton's flight, which started a few inches from the goal line, the ball passed over the goal line.

This kind of planebreaker is quite common, and my suggestion is to place the ball where the player made his leap, and force the team to actually put the ball into the end zone, but not with the tush push, which belongs in rugby, not American football.