Return of Stump the Chump

[The Roamin' Umpire]

From last night's monthly off-season rules bull session:

K 4/8 @ K40. The booming punt is deeper than the returner R80 expects, and he catches it over his shoulder at the R4 while running towards his own goal line. His momentum takes him into his end zone, where he turns and starts to run out. He is hit by K62 before exiting the end zone and fumbles. The ball fires back into the field of play and is eventually recovered by R92 at the R6. While the ball was loose, R80 blocked K18 below the waist, likely preventing him from recovering the ball.

Your call?

[MJT]

Off the top of my head, we have a running play, and the basic spot is where the run ends (spot of fumble), which is in the EZ, so safety.

[grantsrc]

I'm going to hold of on answering this for a second. Safety seems a little harsh. Would the momentum spot have any influence on the ruling? I agree that you have a running play and that the basic spot for this play would be the goal line. As for what else, I'm not sure.

[Rick KY]

No momentum rule in effect here since the ball did not become dead in R's possession in R's endzone. Since R's foul occurred during the loose ball, the basic spot is the end of the related run, which is in R's endzone. Safety.

[Theisey]

I want to know now K62 got down into team-R EZ so fast

I believe both "study" guides have plays similar to this and I agree with the rest.. Saftey as a result of the enforcement being in the EZ.

[The Roamin' Umpire]

Right you folks are - safety. Interestingly, this did in fact stump nearly everyone in our meeting. They were going for R 1/10 @ R2 or R3.

PSK does not apply, since the foul is after the kick ends.
Momentum does not apply since the ball does not become dead in the end zone.
So this is just a foul during a running play, with a basic spot at the end of the run, which is in the EZ. It's harsh, but fumbling the ball in the EZ probably should be harsh for your team.

[MJT]

Originally Posted by The Roamin' Umpire

Right you folks are - safety. Interestingly, this did in fact stump nearly everyone in our meeting. They were going for R 1/10 @ R2 or R3.

PSK does not apply, since the foul is after the kick ends.
Momentum does not apply since the ball does not become dead in the end zone.
So this is just a foul during a running play, with a basic spot at the end of the run, which is in the EZ. It's harsh, but fumbling the ball in the EZ probably should be harsh for your team.

The biggest thing to always think of with penalty enforcement is what type of play you have and go from there. Then go thru the special enforcements and all should trun out fine.