Penalty Enforcement

[my3sons]

A's ball on their on 3 yard line. A1 fumbles the ball in the end zone. A2 then intentionally kicks the ball illegally out the back of the endzone into deadball territory. Other then B getting 2 points for the safty, what would be the penalty enforcement for this situation?
If B accepts the penalty would it be enforced from the 20 yd line which would be half the distance to the goal. Please only answers that you can back up with a rule or casebook quote. By the way Fed rules.

[Theisey]

The all-but-one principle says to enforce this foul from the spot of the foul. See rule # 10.
That means from the EZ. But you really can't do that so the yardage portion of the penalty enforcement is basically ignored.

Team-B is getting two points whether they accept of decline this penalty.
Then, team-A free kicks from the 20. No yardage is ever enforced from that (the succeeding spot) spot as it's not part of the enforcement for a foul in the EZ.

[stevesmith]

I agree with Theisey. We had this play earlier this year. Since the foul occurs in the endzone, the enforcement spot is the goal line so the safety is automatic whether the penalty is accepted or not.

What makes this play interesting is if the kick occurs in the field of play, then Team B can accept the result of the play (safety), or take the penalty which is 15 yards and includes a loss of down. So if it was 4th down and B accepts the penalty, it will B's ball after the 15 yard (or half the distance) enforcement.

[Warrenkicker]

Originally posted by stevesmith
I agree with Theisey. We had this play earlier this year. Since the foul occurs in the endzone, the enforcement spot is the goal line so the safety is automatic whether the penalty is accepted or not.

What makes this play interesting is if the kick occurs in the field of play, then Team B can accept the result of the play (safety), or take the penalty which is 15 yards and includes a loss of down. So if it was 4th down and B accepts the penalty, it will B's ball after the 15 yard (or half the distance) enforcement.

Illegal kicking does not include a loss-of-down under NF rules. I am not sure about NCAA.

[stevesmith]

It is loss of down in NCAA. Sorry I didn't specify.

[Texas Aggie]

More precisely, it is a loss of down if the loss of down isn't in conflict with other rules. For example, a defensive player intentionally kicking a loose ball. Actually had that play this year, though I'm not sure it was correct. The ball was kicked and the R flagged it, but I seriously doubt the defender intentionally kicked it.

[MJT]

Originally posted by stevesmith
It is loss of down in NCAA. Sorry I didn't specify.

I like the LOD aspect for IK, which the NCAA has. In a college game this year, a punter had a snap go over his head, ball down to the 2 yard line when the punter kicked it thru the enzone and past the endline. The defense took the penalty from the spot of the IK and took over the ball 1-goal at the one. They scored and almost had a huge upset over a team which had 38 consecutive GPAC conference victories.

[Bob M.]

REPLY: If the runner accidentally kicked the ball while attempting to gain (or regain) possession, it's considered a muff. Can't understand what could have been called USC in that situation.