[Bob M.]

Originally posted by Suudy
So let's talk about situation A. A's ball, 1st and 10 from the 15. A chooses to free-kick. Expand it to say there is 2 seconds left in the game. A kicks through the uprights, scoring a FG.

So on A's free kick (after the FG), the clock will still have 2 seconds, right?

What if A is farther back, say the 35. On the free kick, B1 jumps up in the EZ in an attempt to block the kick from going through the uprights. The ball hits B1's hand then goes through the upright (It still scores an FG, right?). Does the clock start on the touch since the ball is in the EZ?

REPLY: Obviously, not the type of situation you'd see very often, but...

So on A's free kick (after the FG), the clock will still have 2 seconds, right? Correct.

The ball hits B1's hand then goes through the upright (It still scores an FG, right?) Correct again...the ball touched by B in B's endzone remains alive only for the purpose of scoring.

Does the clock start on the touch since the ball is in the EZ? This is the tough one, since it's so rare, but I would say no, the clock doesn't start at all on this play. Why? Look at the exception to rule 4-2-2d(2). It says, "EXCEPTION: If a scoring attempt touches an upright or crossbar or an R player in the end zone and caroms through the goal, the touching is ignored and the attempt or try is successful." (underlining is mine for emphasis). Since it says, .the touching is ignored..."that (to me) is an indication that the free kick hasn't been touched and the clock should not start.

What do you think?