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It happens. However, as the season progresses, and the play clock operators get more experience with the 40-second play clock, they will figure out how things work, so that by the time that the playoffs roll around, there won't be as many (or any) play clock issues.
This is from the series of growing pains, which can be alleviated through more education (e.g. Last year, you keyed off the Referee. Now, you need to see if the ball is dead. WHEN IT IS DEAD, start the 40-second play clock (usually the covering official will give a dead ball signal (raised hand), but other signals also trigger the 40-second play clock (incomplete pass or stop the clock [for ball carrier out of bounds or a first down])), UNLESS there is a flag or the officials stop the GAME (team timeout, official timeout, injury, measurement, change of possession etc.). When in doubt, we will help you by pumping up one hand to reset the play clock to 25 seconds and start it, or by pumping up two hands to reset the play clock to 40 seconds and start it. ), planning (having and instructing ball boys (in college games, this is one of the duties of the Field Judge and Side Judge; for high school games, this is on the Head Linesman and Line Judge, unless your state association uses 6 or 7 man crews.), establishing a ball rotation protocol for teams using multiple balls (either have both teams' balls on both sidelines, as in college, or have a way to quickly transfer balls between sidelines and send balls in when the ball goes outside the hashmarks (long incomplete passes, ball carrier out of bounds), etc.), and patience on the part of the game officials. There was a learning curve in some states when they decided to experiment with the 40-second play clock. They figured out ways to make it work, so it is very much possible that the other states will make it work as well.
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