Safty or touchback

[Asavin]

Team A fumbles the ball on Team B's 10 yard line. Team B gains posession of the loose ball at the 3 yard line, advances to the five, but sees overwhelming amounts of pursuers, retreats to his endzone and takes a knee. What is the result of the play?

Team B touchback or Team A rewarded a safty.

[yankeesfan]

safety. the momentum rule sure doesn't apply here either.

[Asavin]

My friend still does not believe it's a safty, someone please explain this to him!!!!!!!!

[yankeesfan]

i have no idea why. if any player was in trouble deep in his own territory they would just run in the end zone and take a knee and get a touchback, now does that make sense. i hope this person is not an official.

[Asavin]

more opinions please. did anyone see tonight's game. They ruled boston college touchback after he retreated to the endzone after recovering virginia tech's fumble on boston colleges' 3 yard line and took a knee?

[Theisey]

Assuming I saw the correct play, I believe the BC player receovered the fumble while the ball was in the EZ. He was probing to possibly come out with it, but terminated that attempt while the ball was still behind the GL. Hence a TB.
Why the officials had to talk about it is subject to guesses.

[Warrenkicker]

If the ball is caught or recovered by B inside their own 5 yard line then the momentum exception may be in effect. That is dependant upon the direction of movement by B at the time of the change of possession. If the direction of movement was toward B's endzone then the momentum exception is in effect if B goes directly into the endzone. If B does not get into the endzone directly but is moving laterally across the field then he is not awarded the momentum exception. And also if B begins to gain yardage prior to reaching his own endzone he will not be awarded the momentum exception.

8-5-2a EXCEPTION: When a defensive player intercepts an opponent’s forward pass; intercepts or recovers an opponent’s fumble or backward pass; or an R player catches or recovers a scrimmage kick or free-kick between his 5-yard line and the goal line, and his original momentum carries him into the end zone where the ball is declared dead in his team’s possession or it goes out of bounds in the end zone, the ball belongs to B at the spot where the pass or fumble was intercepted or recovered or the kick was caught or recovered.

Your original play was a safety.

[JasonTX]

NCAA: Even if you rule momentum, it's not going to result in a touchback. If the ball became dead behind the goalline the ball will come back to the spot of the recovery. In your play you said he got the ball and advanced to the 5. Momentum is what carries a player backwards. In your play it's a safety. Momentum is a force that a player doesn't have any control of. Try running down a hill and coming to an instant stop. It won't happen because your momentum will carry you for a few more steps. The NCAA rules says that 5 yards is enough time for you to stop your momentum. This doesn't mean that your allowed to intercept the ball or catch/recover a fumble inside the 5 and be allowed to run behind the goalline. If you rule he did it on his own and it wasn't momentum, then you got to rule a safety.

[booker227]

In this case, B chose to retreat into the end zone, momentum doesn't come into play here. It is a safety...

[mcrowder]

The BC player recovered that ball in the end zone, and then ran around for a while. Touchback. Perhaps the confusion lies solely in the perception of the viewer.

[PSU213]

Originally posted by Asavin
more opinions please. did anyone see tonight's game. They ruled boston college touchback after he retreated to the endzone after recovering virginia tech's fumble on boston colleges' 3 yard line and took a knee?

First, the play you describe is not a matter of opinion. Based on the situation you gave (recovery on the 10 yard line), this would result in a safety if B goes down in his own endzone.

If he did actually recover in the end zone (and I did not see the game), it does not matter how he goes down (either tackled or takes a knee), it would be a touchback. It is not of consequence if he is trying to run the ball out of the EZ when he goes down.

[largeone59]

would forward progress come into play here and the ball marked at the 5?

[PSU213]

Originally posted by largeone59
would forward progress come into play here and the ball marked at the 5?

Based on the original description of the play...no. Again, I did not see the play, but based on the situation given, he retreated into the EZ, hence he forced (or in NCAA terms, I guess it would be 'provided the impetus') for the ball to cross into the EZ.