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Football Officiating => NCAA Discussion => Topic started by: Ozz98 on December 04, 2025, 01:50:33 PM
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Hello, i have a simple question. It's the opening kick-off for the game. Team A kicks off, B21 catches the ball in Team B endzone;
1 - He tries to run, gets hit and fumbles, the fumble goes oob from the endline.
2- He throws a lateral or backward pass to B48 and B48 is downed before he leaves the endzone.
Touchback as impetus that got the ball to Team B endzone is by Team A. Or safety as the pass or fumble starts a new impetus.
Thanks
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Hello, i have a simple question. It's the opening kick-off for the game. Team A kicks off, B21 catches the ball in Team B endzone;
1 - He tries to run, gets hit and fumbles, the fumble goes oob from the endline.
2- He throws a lateral or backward pass to B48 and B48 is downed before he leaves the endzone.
Touchback as impetus that got the ball to Team B endzone is by Team A. Or safety as the pass or fumble starts a new impetus.
Thanks
Touchback in both cases.
Impetus is the responsibility of the team that imparts that impetus before the last time it crosses the goal line (from the field of play). That impetus can be imparted in the field of play or end zone, IF the ball eventually travels from the field of play across the goal line, where it then becomes dead behind the goal line. In both of your cases, Team A imparted the impetus on the ball that caused it to travel from the field of play across B’s goal line, and then the ball became dead behind that goal line. Touchback, if the loose ball, or ball in B’s possession, goes OB. Touchdown, if Team A gets possession of the (live) ball in B’s end zone (after having been touched by B before touching the ground in the end zone).
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And, by the way, there is no such thing as a ‘lateral’ pass (even though we hear that term frequently). Any pass is either forward or backward, depending on where the ball is first touched by any player, or touches the ground, as compared to the spot where the pass was released. If the ball is first touched/touches the ground at any point BEYOND the point it was released, that’s a forward pass. Anything else is a backward pass.
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Thanks. Yes that was the issue, it's a "not forward" pass.