The Official Forum  

Go Back   The Official Forum > Football

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Fri Nov 17, 2017, 04:45am
In Time Out
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 130
Spotting the ball after a fumble in a running clock situation

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown makes big catch, fumbles, Martavis Bryant recovers - NFL Videos

Brown fumbled between the 41 and the 40. Bryant recovered at the 30. The Steelers were running up to spike it, and I can only assume the officiating crew spaced out in their haste and spotted it at the 32 instead of where the fumble occurred inside of two minutes. Would there have been any way for then to fix it afterwards, or are they pretty much stuck once the next play is run? Could the replay official have buzzed down if he'd seen it prior to the next snap?

As officials, what kinds of scenarios do you run through your head before each play just to make sure you're fully aware of the game situation and as prepared for as many possibilities as possible? When I officiated baseball, I tried to think through what I would do if the ball was hit certain places, much the same way I did as a player. Do you have to remind yourself you're inside two minutes, etc?

I imagine this particular issue is less likely to occur below the NFL level, as the clock is stopped to spot the ball and set the chains, correct?
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old Fri Nov 17, 2017, 02:27pm
TODO: creative title here
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 1,250
Quote:
Originally Posted by FormerUmp View Post
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown makes big catch, fumbles, Martavis Bryant recovers - NFL Videos

Brown fumbled between the 41 and the 40. Bryant recovered at the 30. The Steelers were running up to spike it, and I can only assume the officiating crew spaced out in their haste and spotted it at the 32 instead of where the fumble occurred inside of two minutes. Would there have been any way for then to fix it afterwards, or are they pretty much stuck once the next play is run? Could the replay official have buzzed down if he'd seen it prior to the next snap?
I don't know if NFL replay can review the spot in an situation like this or not, but they can in the NCAA to a limited extent (if a possible first down is involved, or in the case of a "clear and egregious officiating error" or some wording to that effect).

Either way, once the ball is snapped, it's too late for replay to make a correction.

Quote:
As officials, what kinds of scenarios do you run through your head before each play just to make sure you're fully aware of the game situation and as prepared for as many possibilities as possible? When I officiated baseball, I tried to think through what I would do if the ball was hit certain places, much the same way I did as a player. Do you have to remind yourself you're inside two minutes, etc?
We do remind ourselves when we're under 2 minutes of the half (HS and NCAA) because some of the timing rules change. For example, in NCAA, when a runner goes out of bounds outside of 2 minutes, we restart the clock on the ready for play, but under 2 minutes, we start the clock on the snap.

In NCAA, we also remind ourselves when we're under 1 minute in the half because that's when a 10-second runoff becomes possible.

At other times during the game, you should always be aware of the situation: down and distance, location on the field, game score, etc.

Quote:
I imagine this particular issue is less likely to occur below the NFL level, as the clock is stopped to spot the ball and set the chains, correct?
The clock does stop on a first down in HS and NCAA. But if the clock is starting on the ready or on the snap depends on the circumstances that resulted in the first down. In those situations, I (as the umpire spotting the ball) will actually tell the center and QB when the clock is going to start.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old Sat Nov 25, 2017, 05:07pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 34
I saw the following play about two years ago. Colorado at Hawaii, seconds left in the game, Colorado out of time outs and they need a touchdown to at least tie. Colorado on offense and there is a play that ends near the sidelines but stays inbounds. The officials are trying to relay the ball to be spotted but as they are relaying it to the U or the C, it accidentally hits a Hawaii player who was trying to get on his side of the scrimmage line. So it takes that much longer for the ball to be spotted and the time runs out on Colorado.
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old Sun Nov 26, 2017, 10:23am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,875
Quote:
Originally Posted by 9thIsleZebra View Post
I saw the following play about two years ago. Colorado at Hawaii, seconds left in the game, Colorado out of time outs and they need a touchdown to at least tie. Colorado on offense and there is a play that ends near the sidelines but stays inbounds. The officials are trying to relay the ball to be spotted but as they are relaying it to the U or the C, it accidentally hits a Hawaii player who was trying to get on his side of the scrimmage line. So it takes that much longer for the ball to be spotted and the time runs out on Colorado.
Don't all the codes have a provision to stop the clock in cases of unusual delay in readying the ball for play?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Spotting the Ball jimpiano Football 2 Sun Sep 14, 2014 06:56pm
Live ball, clock not running Adam Basketball 35 Mon Nov 04, 2013 03:44pm
Spotting the Ball jimpiano Football 7 Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:03pm
Spotting the Ball hsfb99 Football 18 Thu Oct 11, 2007 02:07pm
Foul with ball dead and clock running JeffTheRef Basketball 21 Thu Jun 26, 2003 07:02am


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:53am.



Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0 RC1