lag time

[todd66]

one second left on clock. ball in bounded on end line, touches offensive player in bounds and goes right back out of bounds. The ball never touches the floor in bounds. The official's whistle sounds and the horn sounds a fraction of a second later. There are no tenths of a second on the clock. Is this game over due to lag time or can the officials put one second on the clock if one of them saw the clock read that at the whistle?

[mbyron]

Lag time went out years ago. The officials can correct the clock if they have "definite knowledge" of how much time should be on the clock. That is, only if one of them SAW the clock with, say, .5 seconds left, can they put time back up.

In most situations like the one you describe, the period will be over.

BTW, the ball touching the floor is irrelevant to starting and stopping the clock.

[Indianaref]

SECTION 10 TIMING MISTAKES
ART. 1 . . . The referee may correct an obvious mistake by the timer to start or stop the clock properly only when he/she has definite information relative to the time involved. The exact time observed by the official may be placed on the clock.
ART. 2 . . . If the referee determines that the clock malfunctioned or was not started/stopped properly, or if the clock did not run, an official’s count or other official information may be used to make a correction.