sent from a west coast group

[Navcom]

A3/G@B-7 near the end of the 2nd quarter and the clock running at 2:08 and the score tied at zero,  Each team has 1 TO. A21 receives a pitch to the right and dives near the pylon,  he goes airborne at the B-2 and the ball crosses the SL at the B-1 but crosses the GL extended while he is still airborne. And A21 lands OB with the ball fully across the GL extended.  During his dive, he does not touch the pylon. A80 is flagged for OH in the EZ.  The clock is stopped at 2:00 Ruling, clock?  Options? 


A1/15@A-15 the offense is in shotgun formation with trips to the left. QB A1 drops back to pass and throws a screen pass from the A-10 to the far left receiver A88.  While the pass is in the air, cornerback B31 is blocked by A81 at the A-16. In an attempt to get past the block B31 grabs A81 by the jersey and pulls him out of the way and runs past him (pull and chute). A88 catches the pass at the A-13 and is immediately tackled by B31.  Ruling? 

[ElvisLives]

A3/G@B-7 near the end of the 2nd quarter and the clock running at 2:08 and the score tied at zero,  Each team has 1 TO. A21 receives a pitch to the right and dives near the pylon,  he goes airborne at the B-2 and the ball crosses the SL at the B-1 but crosses the GL extended while he is still airborne. And A21 lands OB with the ball fully across the GL extended.  During his dive, he does not touch the pylon. A80 is flagged for OH in the EZ.  The clock is stopped at 2:00 Ruling, clock?  Options?
To have the goal line extended beyond the sideline, by rule, an airborne BC must touch the ground in the end zone, or touch the pylon. Since he did neither, forward progress is marked where the ball crossed the sideline - the B-1. That is the end of the run related to A80's holding foul, and is the Basic Spot for the penalty. Since the foul is beyond the end of the run, and the run ended beyond the NZ, by the 3 & 1 principal, the penalty for the foul is penalized from the Basic Spot, 10 yards, which, if accepted, places the ball at the B-11, and the down will be repeated. Thus, the next down will be A, 3/G, B-11. However, Team B certainly may decline the penalty, and the next down will be A, 4/G, B-1.
Regarding the clocks, the play clock will be set to 25 seconds (due to the completion of the penalty) and will start on the Referee's signal. Since the game clock is not "...fewer than two minutes in a half...", the game clock will also next start on the Referee's signal, unless a time-out is charged to either team. If either team takes a time-out, the play clock will start on the Referee's signal, and the game clock will next start on the snap.
 
A1/15@A-15 the offense is in shotgun formation with trips to the left. QB A1 drops back to pass and throws a screen pass from the A-10 to the far left receiver A88.  While the pass is in the air, cornerback B31 is blocked by A81 at the A-16. In an attempt to get past the block B31 grabs A81 by the jersey and pulls him out of the way and runs past him (pull and chute). A88 catches the pass at the A-13 and is immediately tackled by B31.  Ruling?
Since the pass was first touched by A88 behind the NZ, pass interference rules do not apply.  B31 is permitted to grasp and pull A81 out of his way, in an effort to get to the ball. (This would not be considered a "pull and shoot," since there is no mention of a teammate being allowed to 'shoot' by through a gap created by pulling the offensive player out of the way.) So, there is no foul here, at all. The next down would be A, 2/17, A-13. The play clock would be 40-seconds and should automatically start when the ball becomes dead on the previous down. The game clock simply continues to run.

[Legacy Zebra]

I’ll start off by saying that everything Elvis said is correct by rule. However, I would make one point regarding the first question. The last two minutes is only when it becomes automatic that the offended team gets an option regarding the game clock. The Referee has the authority to start or stop the clock at any time. The general guidance is to consider invoking this rule under 5 minutes in either half. With 2:00 on the clock in a tied game where one team is trying to score right before halftime, I’m not going to let them run extra time off the clock because they fouled and are repeating 3rd down. Let’s look at 3 scenarios.

1. Without the foul at all. Team B could have used their last time out and forced Team A to snap the ball for 4th down at 2:00. Given roughly 5 seconds for 4th down and 10 seconds, Team B will start their possession with about 1:45 left, plus or minus a couple seconds.

2. With the foul, clock on RFP. Now, Team B has an extra down that they have to wait before calling their last timeout. Team A can run 24 seconds off the clock before snapping the ball plus the time it takes to run their third down play. If Team B then uses their timeout and we account for 4th down plus a kickoff as in #1, Team B starts their possession with about 1:15 left.

3. With the foul, clock on snap. Now Team B can save their timeout for the next down and Team A can’t run the clock down. Given the same approximations for 3rd down, 4th down, and the kickoff as above, Team B can start their possession with about 1:40 left.

We’ll never be able to account for the time it takes to replay 3rd down, but starting the clock on the snap is the closest we can get to giving Team B the time they would have had if Team A hadn’t fouled.

[ElvisLives]

Yes, the Rules Committee made any foul inside 2 minutes in a half ‘automatically’ qualify for rule-specified clock control, at the option of the offended team, taking that judgment out of our hands - thankfully.

But, outside 2 minutes, a holding foul is not exactly an obviously unfair tactic to conserve or consume time, which is what 3-4-3 is intended to address. Unlike a false start, offside with contact, an illegal forward pass, etc., a player/team can’t necessarily bank on a holding/block in the back/PI, etc., foul getting called, and causing the clock to stop. Those are just normal game play fouls, and shouldn’t be cause for changing game timing. The offending team didn’t do anything ‘obviously unfair’ to alter game timing.

***ADDED 1:45 pm:  Of course, there are always extreme cases, such as the Cal defensive holding situation a couple of years ago, which was done purposefully to 1) keep the opponent from scoring, and 2) make the game clock eventually expire, even if only 4 or 5 seconds at a time. As we know, per AR 9-2-3-II and III, the game clock is to be re-set to the original time the down began in these cases, eliminating the advantage that the fouling team would gain. But, again, a holding foul by a teammate of a Team A BC attempting to score is more likely to be trying to help the BC advance and score (and hoping he gets away with the illegal hold) than consciously attempting to get the clock to stop, i.e., not an obviously unfair act to consume or conserve time.*** 

The guidance is to ‘consider’ invoking this rule inside 5 minutes, not automatically invoke it. Yeah, a non-judgment foul like a false start, etc., should get serious - nearly automatic - consideration. But not a high-judgment foul like holding.