Wow. I guess not much pass attempts were done into the EZ
Forgive me, but my memory failed me. It wasn’t an incomplete pass in the opponent’s end zone that resulted in a touchback. It was Offensive Pass Interference and Illegal Touching by An Originally Ineligible Player in the opponent’s end zone (any down) that had an option for a touchback, or 15 yards from previous spot and a loss of down (both fouls). The touchback option was dropped in 1982 (for both). The distance penalty for illegal touching had already changed (down to 5 yards), but the LOD was still there. It is not LOD, today (despite protestations of one coach last week
).
DPI was still a spot foul in 1982 - don’t recall when it changed to the current rule.
It might have been the NFL that had the 4th down incomplete pass in the end zone = touchback rule. I swear somebody had it! But not NCAA.
TImes have changed. Knee pads, socks, and jersey numbers were never an issue. On and on.
Robert