Spotting the ball after a fumble in a running clock situation

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by FormerUmp

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.

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.

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.