2020 CFO Play Situations Bulletin No. 1 released yesterday (attached). The second item (below) is interesting, because, I assure you, Team A is gonna want a touchdown. But, the ball is dead behind B's goal line, and the impetus is by Team B. So, in these instances, the impetus supersedes the 4th down fumble rule, and result of the down is a safety. Team A won't like that, but, they DO get 2 points and B has to kick the ball back to them.
As always, get video.
Safety – Rule 8-5-1 & Fumble Rule 7-2-2 Exceptions
Play #2: 4/Goal @ B8. Runner A44 is hit at the B-5 and fumbles, and B54 bats the grounded loose ball at the B-3 back into his own end zone. A88 sees the loose ball and recovers while the ball is still in the end zone. RULING: Safety, score 2 points for Team A. The bat by B54 is a legal bat since he is batting the ball backward (Rule 9-4-1-c), but B54 does add a new impetus to the ball, and is responsible for the balls progress into his own end zone (Rule 8-7-2-b-1). When A88 recovers the ball, the ball is declared dead based on the 4th down fumble rule (Rule 7-2-2-a Exception 2). The ruling is a safety because the ball becomes dead by rule in the end zone, and B54 is responsible for the ball being there (Rule 8-5-1-a). The safety rule and the 4th down fumble rule would seem to be in conflict here, but the spirit and intent of the safety rule is very specific to this play and would supersede the 4th down fumble rule which describes generically how we are to handle recoveries by Team A on 4th down.
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