Illegal Participation
 

My friend and I went back and forth on this last night, and I thought I would check with the forum members to see what your responses would be.

Situation A:

1 and 10 for A at the A40 yard line. A10 runs out of bounds on a pass play. He runs out of bounds at the B45yard line and returns at the B35 yard line. A completes a legal pass to A20 who advances to the A15 yard line. A10 was out of bounds a) prior to the pass b)during the pass c) after the pass.

The penalty is illegal participation with a 15 yard penalty, but where would you enforce it from (exact yard line.)

if it is a loose ball play, it should go back to the previous spot.

REPLY: Remember that the foul is for A returning to the field after being OOB--not for stepping OOB in the first place. If he returns (a) prior to the pass, or (b) during the pass, the foul occurred during a loose ball play and yankeesfan gave you the answer. If he returns after the pass is completed, then his foul occurred during a running play. Use the all-but-one principle to compare the basic spot (end of the run) and the spot of the foul (point where A returned).

Canadian Ruling
 

Illegal Participation. 10 yards from Previous Lien of Scirmmage (PLS), Down Repeated (DR).