|
I concur that it would be a stretch that the player would have intentionally committed the infraction to aid his team. I am only talking about the ramifications, under the rules, of this penalty and their effects on both teams.
Does it matter if the penalty is occurs after the play is started? For example, Game situation: 4th down and 2 on Team A's 8 yard line, with 20 seconds left to play, Team A is leading. Team B takes its final time out following the third down play. When play is set to resume, Team A lines up for the kick and player A1 false starts (assume no intent on the players behalf). Is the rule such that the penalty is enforced, half the distance to the goal and the clock starts? Does it matter if the penalty is declined?
Another scenario: Team A has a third down and five on their 35 yard line. The clock is stopped with 50 seconds remaining. Neither team has any time outs and Team A leading. Team A runs a play and gains 6 yards but is called for holding. If I understand the rule, Team B has the option of declining the penalty and giving A the first down. After the chains are set and R signals the ball in play, the clock starts and Team A runs the clock out. The other option for Team B is take the penalty, have it assessed and third down played again. As soon as the R signals ball in play, the 25 second clock can run until a delay of game is called. At this time, penalty assessed and third down ran again, Team A takes a knee and game over. Did I miss anything?
I appreciate the discourse and the education, I just feel at the end of the game the time on the clock and the down and distance are equally important.
I understand that this rule was properly enforced. I also understand that this rule has the potential (see the examples above and the Nebraska / Texas Game) to eliminate the effect of a time-out namely that the team on offense runs down the play clock. Admittedly, this highly unusual and I may take your advice and send in a suggestion to the appropriate organization.
Again, this probably appears as biased griping but it is not. I wanted to understand the rules and how they applied to this situation. Nebraska still had ample opportunities to win this game and should have capitalized on those opportunities but they did not and this cost them the game.
|