On 3rd and short yardage, the Team A QB threw a pass to his receiver who caught the ball just over the first down mark. Before the receiver was tagged, he tossed the ball back (onside direction) to the QB who rushed ahead after throwing the pass. The Team A QB touched the ball behind the first down mark but muffed it in the offside direction where the ball landed on the ground ahead of the Team A receiver.  The play was blown dead when the ball hit the ground.  The ball was placed at where the receiver caught the ball (last point of control) and awarded first down.

Ruling: Ball should be placed at where the QB muffed the ball. Yards not gained and change of possession. First down to Team B.  Similar to a lateral on kickoffs, the ball is placed at the spot where it was first muffed closest to the receiving team’s goal line.

On a 2 point convert attempt, the quarterback attempts to run the ball into the end zone but is rough tagged at the 2 yard line.

Ruling: The convert was ruled unsuccessful and a 15 yard personal foul was applied on the kick off.  Under Regulation 22.1.3 this personal foul shall be considered to have occurred after the ball was dead.  The live ball foul options under Rule 24.11.2 did not apply because the QB was a runner and not a passer.

A team lined up for a scrimmage – 1st down. Their inside receiver on the right drops back 3 yards and runs to the left behind the center before the ball is snapped. As this receiver runs behind the center, the center snaps the ball, which then hits the receiver in the leg (below knee) and the ball hits the ground behind the line of scrimmage.

Ruling: The play was blown dead and illegal procedure penalty was applied – repeat 1st down with 15 yards to go. Because the ball hit the receiver, under Rule 15.6.1 (The first teammate of the Centre to touch the snapped ball is the Quarterback), the receiver is deemed to be the Quarterback and was not 5 yards from the line of scrimmage when the ball is first touched. The Quarterback’s entire body must be at least 5 yards. Violation of this rule is illegal procedure.

On 2nd down, the Quarterback muffs the snap. The ball rolls on the ground and the QB kicks the ball in the offside direction over the line of scrimmage where it hits the ground. The QB says you can punt the ball on any down.

Ruling: It was ruled a dribbled ball and placed back where the “kick” occurred (nearest to their dead ball line) and become 3rd down.  Under Rule 19.2.1 and 19.2.2, a player who does not have possession of the ball cannot legally punt the ball. When a player accidentally or deliberately kicks the ball with the foot or leg below the knee, without having had control of the ball in the hand, this is a dribbled ball.

On last play of the first half, Team A punted the ball into the Team B endzone (line of scrimmage was an approx. the Team B 20 yard line). A Team B player in the endzone picked up the ball and punted it back out of the endzone, where it hit the ground on about the Team B 7-yard line. The ball bounced backwards into the Team B endzone, where the ball then hit the Team B punter, before hitting the ground in the endzone. The ball was then grabbed by a Team A player in the enzone. The play was then whistled down. The ruling on the field was a 2-point safety was scored and the Team A was awarded a 2 point safety and the half ended.

The rationale for the 2-point safety was that the Team B player caused the ball to exit the end zone but was also the reason for the ball to be brought back into the end zone. Because Team B was awarded the 2 points, there was no additional play remaining and the half was ended.

In the Casebook, cases #17, 18 and 19 under Rule 19-Punts indicate that if a punt from the endzone lands outside and then bounces back into the endzone, one of the decisions is whether the ball is caught in the air before it touches the ground in the endzone.

      a. If the ball touches the ground in the end zone first, then the ball is dead (Rule 10.6.7 “The ball is dead after a punt when it touches the ground behind the line of scrimmage or in the punter’s end zone”) and the LTeam A would be awarded one point for the rouge. Team B would have scrimmaged, first and ten, on the 35 yard line (Rule 19.1 – see below) but since it was the last play of the half, the half is ended.

      b. If a Team B player caught the bouncing ball before it hit the ground in the endzone, the Team A would have the options to either accept a single point or, to take possession of the ball at the previous line of scrimmage (20 yard line) or at the 10 yard line, due to the “no yards” infraction (Rule 19.5.1 - see below) committed by the Team B player in the endzone. (Rule 24.10 – see below).

However, in this situation, the Team B player did touch the ball first before the ball hit the ground in the endzone. Although he did not “catch” the ball, he did touch the ball while it was still live and therefore committed a “no yards” infraction by not providing the 5 yard restraining zone for a punt. Had Team A then accepted the penalty (and declined the single point), there would be one more play for Team A from either the 20 or 10 yard line.

      c. If a Team A player caught the bouncing ball before it hit the ground in the endzone, the Team A player would be awarded a touchdown because he caught the ball, in flight in the endzone.

Under Rule 19.3.1, “immediately as the ball is punted, the punting team automatically loses possession to the opponents, unless the punt is blocked or is considered to have never left the endzone”. In this situation with the ball bouncing back into the endzone on its own, the punt would be considered to have never left the endzone. A rouge is a possibility but not a safety because the ball was punted into the endzone by Team A and not snapped into the end zone by Team B.

Under Rule 24.10.2, “When a foul occurs and the point of application of the penalty is in the endzone, the following rules apply:

– If the offense (Team B) committed the foul, the defense (Team A) will be awarded a rouge or a safety touch as defined by the scoring rules.

– If the foul committed by the offense (Team B) is "no yards" the defense (Team A) has the option of taking the ball on the opponents 10 yard line or at the previous line of scrimmage rather than be awarded the points.”

In this situation, “no yards” should be called because the infraction occurred before the ball hit the ground in the endzone.

Under Rule 19.5.1, “Restraining Zone - After a punt, players of the punting team cannot touch the ball or cannot be touched by the ball before the opponents touch the ball. After a punt, all players of the punting team must be at least 5 yards away from the ball when an opponent first touches the ball. Violation of these rules is a “no yards” penalty assessed against the punting team from the point where the ball was first touched.”

In this situation, Team B touched the ball after they punted it before a Team A player could play it.

In summary, for this particular situation, the correct call was to offer Team A the option of declining the “no yards” penalty and scoring 1 point for the rouge (then end of half) or Team A taking the ball on the Team B 10-yard line with one play remaining in the half.