TASO Mini Quiz 6

[dammitbobby]

1. Kickoff @ A-40, 6:00 (1), A=7, B=6. All other Team A players have a foot touching the A-35 as A99
begins to move forward to kick the ball. While A99 moves forward, A81 steps back to the A-34 with both
feet and takes two running strides laterally, then turns forward and is running full speed at the A-39 when the ball is legally kicked. B89 catches the ball at the B-20 and is almost immediately tackled and downed there by A81 (no KCI), with 5:58 (1).

If I am visualizing this correctly, this is a foul for illegal formation, since A81 was more than 5 yards behind the restraining line after the ball was made ready for play.  (6-1-2.b) The play should have been whistled dead immediately at the kick.  5 yard penalty, A kicking at the A35.

2. 4/10 @ A-30, 8:00 (4), A=14, B=10. A99’s legal punt is in flight when B89 blocks A81 out of bounds at the 50. With no further contact, A81 runs in the restricted area to the B-30, where he returns inbounds. The punted ball is untouched and bounding at the B-28 when A81 bats the ball, to prevent B85 from recovering it. The batted ball lands at the B-30 and is recovered there by A77, with 7:45 (4).

6-3-12 states that no player who goes OOB may return inbounds during the down, unless blocked out by B and returns to the field of play immediately.  Since he did not, it is a foul.  5 yards from previous spot or five yards from where the subsequent dead ball belongs to B.

3. Free Kick After Safety @ A-20, 11:00 (3), free kick timing (25), A=10, B=9. Attempting to catch Team B by surprise with an ‘onside’ kick, A99 legally kicks the ball on bounding trajectory, toward a sideline. A77 is offside when the ball is kicked. At the A-29, and near the sideline, the ball strikes A77 on the helmet and deflects sharply toward B’s goal line; the game clock operator starts the clock. Untouched after deflecting off of A77’s helmet, the ball goes out of bounds at the B-47, with 10:50 (3). Include game clock and play clock status in your ruling.

The result of the play is the ball going OOB at the B-47, untouched by B, and illegally touched by B.  Illegal touching is disregarded since there is a foul (offsides by A77). B will (should) decline the foul and choose to take the ball at the spot of the illegal touching (A-29). 3-2-a states that game clock can only start when the ball is legally touched, so GC will be reset to 11:00.  GC on snap, PC 25.

4. Free kick from the A-40 with 4:00 remaining in the third period with Team A leading 42-0. A99’s legal place kick is caught by B99 at the B-10, and advanced to the B-35, where B99 is contacted ferociously (but legally), causing him to fumble the ball to the ground at the B-37. Players of both teams converge on the ball, and attempt to recover it. The ball is out of view of game officials very briefly, while the covering officials attempt to determine which player has possession. The Umpire is quickly able to see that A81, laying on the ground, has clear and sole possession of the ball at the B-37, and signals for the game clock to stop, and signals possession for Team A, with 3:40 on the game clock. Include game clock and play clock status in your ruling.

A’s ball 1/10 at the B-37.  The ball must be declared dead with joint possession to be awarded to B.  20 seconds is extraordinarily long and indicates that it ran well past the whistle, IMO.  I'd reset GC to 3:50... unless B's coach had indicated he wanted to run the clock as much as possible to get off the field quicker.  GC on snap, PC 40.

5. A, 4/15 @ A-30, 2:00 (2), A=21, B=21. A81 legally punts the ball, and B99 makes an abrupt ‘wrist wave’ signal at shoulder height, then catches the ball at the B-30. A77 has rushed downfield and, immediately after B99 has completed the catch (B99 would become a ball carrier if the ball were to remain alive), A77 continues rushing forward, wraps his arms around B99, and, making shoulder-to-body contact, falls to the ground with B99 at the B-28, with 1:48 (2).

If you interpret the tackle to be bang bang, then no foul, since the fair catch signal was invalid (from the statement that B99 would be a ball carrier if the ball remained alive.) If you think it was late, dead ball personal foul, late hit.  15 yards, B1/10 at the B43.

[JasonTX]

1. Kickoff @ A-40, 6:00 (1), A=7, B=6. All other Team A players have a foot touching the A-35 as A99
begins to move forward to kick the ball. While A99 moves forward, A81 steps back to the A-34 with both
feet and takes two running strides laterally, then turns forward and is running full speed at the A-39 when the ball is legally kicked. B89 catches the ball at the B-20 and is almost immediately tackled and downed there by A81 (no KCI), with 5:58 (1).

If I am visualizing this correctly, this is a foul for illegal formation, since A81 was more than 5 yards behind the restraining line after the ball was made ready for play.  (6-1-2.b) The play should have been whistled dead immediately at the kick.  5 yard penalty, A kicking at the A35.

Why are you whistling it dead?

3. Free Kick After Safety @ A-20, 11:00 (3), free kick timing (25), A=10, B=9. Attempting to catch Team B by surprise with an ‘onside’ kick, A99 legally kicks the ball on bounding trajectory, toward a sideline. A77 is offside when the ball is kicked. At the A-29, and near the sideline, the ball strikes A77 on the helmet and deflects sharply toward B’s goal line; the game clock operator starts the clock. Untouched after deflecting off of A77’s helmet, the ball goes out of bounds at the B-47, with 10:50 (3). Include game clock and play clock status in your ruling.

The result of the play is the ball going OOB at the B-47, untouched by B, and illegally touched by B.  Illegal touching is disregarded since there is a foul (offsides by A77). B will (should) decline the foul and choose to take the ball at the spot of the illegal touching (A-29). 3-2-a states that game clock can only start when the ball is legally touched, so GC will be reset to 11:00.  GC on snap, PC 25.

I think you meant the ball was illegally touched by A.  With that said, the ball going out of bounds and untouched by team B is a foul.  Agree with your clock status.  The option to penalize and rekick from the A-15 is there or accept either the offside or KOB 5 yards from the OOB spot.  B 1/10 at the A-48. I totally missed the part where you said take the ball at the illegal touch spot.  That is the best option.

4. Free kick from the A-40 with 4:00 remaining in the third period with Team A leading 42-0. A99’s legal place kick is caught by B99 at the B-10, and advanced to the B-35, where B99 is contacted ferociously (but legally), causing him to fumble the ball to the ground at the B-37. Players of both teams converge on the ball, and attempt to recover it. The ball is out of view of game officials very briefly, while the covering officials attempt to determine which player has possession. The Umpire is quickly able to see that A81, laying on the ground, has clear and sole possession of the ball at the B-37, and signals for the game clock to stop, and signals possession for Team A, with 3:40 on the game clock. Include game clock and play clock status in your ruling.

A’s ball 1/10 at the B-37.  The ball must be declared dead with joint possession to be awarded to B.  20 seconds is extraordinarily long and indicates that it ran well past the whistle, IMO.  I'd reset GC to 3:50... unless B's coach had indicated he wanted to run the clock as much as possible to get off the field quicker.  GC on snap, PC 40. 

There is no option to reset the game clock here because it stops at the point that we determine the ball is dead.  Sure, the ball was probably possessed in the pile for a number of seconds but we don't have positive knowledge of that.  It's not dead until we see it dead.

[dammitbobby]

Why are you whistling it dead?

1:  Because I had a nugget of information floating around in my head that all free kick infractions are whistled dead... and I've no idea where I got that from.

4.  What I took from the question, was that the clock operator ran it down.

[JasonTX]

Why are you whistling it dead?

1:  Because I had a nugget of information floating around in my head that all free kick infractions are whistled dead... and I've no idea where I got that from.

4.  What I took from the question, was that the clock operator ran it down.

That happens when reading tests.  I know you wouldn't have done that on the field. 

[ElvisLives]

4.  What I took from the question, was that the clock operator ran it down.

Don't read things into the question. There was no information that indicated that a whistle was sounded (or a signal was given) before the U signaled for the clock to stop (which causes the ball to become dead, with or without the sounding of a whistle).

Now, having said that, I will grant you that many quiz questions do not offer enough information to draw the correct conclusion without 'assuming' that something important happened (such as  the sounding of a whistle). Not the case here, though. Yeah, 20 seconds may be on the high end for the length of a down, but not outrageous. Had the clock continued to run after the U's signal, then there would be cause to reset the clock. In this case, the clock stops on the U's signal, and after the appropriate 'pause,' the 40-second play clock is automatically started. That was the major point of this question. Just because there was a brief period of 'searching' during the live ball, to determine possession, once determined and the clock stopped, and in the absence of any fouls or other cause for an administrative stoppage, the play clock should start automatically. And this would be regardless of which team was in possession. This is an item that should be covered in every pre-game conference with the PCO.