[ChickenOfNC]

This came up in our local clinic last night:

Airborne receiver catches a pass and the defender forces him OOB where he first touches the ground OOB. I think we'll all agree that, by rule, if the WR would have come down inbounds without the contact, this a catch.

The question is about forward progress and clock status. The case book addresses the clock under 3.4.3 sit C, which is that the clock shall be stopped in this situation. However, it is unclear whether this would be the case if the airborne WR is driven backwards OOB. Do we give the receiver both forward progress AND a stopped clock?

I'm leaning toward him getting both. There is a case play addressing forward progress of an airborne receiver (somewhere in Rule 2) as it pertains to the end zone. The ruling is that is airborne above the endzone and a defender forces back to the field of play, it is a TD. So obviously an airborne WR forced backward is entitled to forward progress.

Some dissension in our group on this, so I thought I'd throw it out there.