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REPLY: The answer to your question is, "It depends..." In Federation rules (most high schools) he's performed a perfectly legal act and bought himself some time. The official cannot apply NF 3-6-3 in such a case. The only discretion that the R has for starting the clock on the ready in such a case would be if the act was illegal. It wasn't, so the R must keep the clock stopped until the snap. In NCAA rules, throwing the ball backwards out of bounds is an illegal pass. The penalty is 5 yds from the spot of the pass and loss of down, unless A ends up with the ball beyond the line to gain after enforcement. In such a case, the loss of down is ignored. However, NCAA 3-4-3 would allow the R to start the clock on the ready because of the illegal pass. Sorry, I don't know how this would be handled in the NFL.
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Bob M.
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