Here is a good one to pass along from my game this week.

Twenty-six seconds in the third quarter as the ready for play is whistled. (In my mind I knew I had done something wrong).

Play clock expires leaving one second on the clock. (Now I knew it was a mistake). Of course, scoreboard clock operator goes to zero. My umpire even seeing my flag yells, "end of quarter."

I yell "No, give me a defensive captain."

The line judge let's the offense head for the bench.

I explain the penalty acceptance to the defensive captain.
...if you take the penalty, the clock will start on the snap and they will have one more play this quarter.

Captain agrees.

Get the offense back on the field. They run a pass play where the defense commits pass interefence.

The offense heads for the sideline because the quarter is over in their mind.

I tell the offensive captain...you get an untimed down. He takes the penalty.

Meanwhile my umpire is whispering in my ear the quarter is over. (Don't I wish!)

Offense throws a 40-yard touchdown. Then the extra point. And ten minutes after that stupid ready-for-play at 26 seconds, the period ends.

Question:

My umpire after the game questions extending the third period of an untimed down. He says that only applies to the second and fourth period.

What do you think, other than overly intent clock watching?

Obviously your umpire is wrong. The rule applies to all 4 periods, not just the 2nd and 4th. I bet you'll never ever blow the ready again with 26 seconds! :D

I had this play several weeks ago.

17 seconds reamining in the 3rd when I blow the ready whislte. A1 goes to the wing to get the play from the coach. He rushes back to the huddle. I tell him that he doesn't have to snap the ball but nodody listens to me. :)

Well, everything happens at once! False start, whistle and flag from the LJ, balled snapped, and the clock expires, all within one second of each other in the order that I just stated.

I have a dead ball foul, so we don't have an untimed down. There should be a second or so left on the clock, but I be damned if I'm going to the trouble of getting the timer to put one second on the clock, just so I can blow the whistle, wind it and have time expire anyway. We walk off the penalty. End of quarter! Would you have done anything differently?

BTW, the association observer, we don't use the term "evaluator," is at the game. After it's over, he asks me why we didn't have an untimed down. Sounds like the right man for the job, doesn't he? :(

Tony,

By your shortcutting the proper procedures and not putting time back on the clock, your observer was totally correct to ask you the question about the untimed down. Since everyone thought you ruled that the foul and the clock occurred at the same time, an untimed down should have been expected.

This being said, I don't blame you for how you handled it. Just remember that a shortcut may sometimes not lead to the right destination at the end of the journey.

Ed,

Sorry to read about your "problem". On our crew we are all clock watchers. If the team is not rushing to get the play off, especially in the 1st and 3rd quarters, our referee will try not to get in this same situation. If he doesn't notice, someone on the crew will call his name just to delay his RFP.

We had a similar situation Sat. The timer was a rookie official. We had a touchdown at the end of the 1stQ. He could have let the quarter run out, but stopped it at 1 sec.
Same as you, the 1 sec. took minutes for no reason. We always go over this in the pregame, but of course he was late.

Thanks for the advice. I realized after the game my back was to the scoreboard at the time, otherwise, the 25-second clock would have started at 24 seconds.

We will go over that in the pregame next week and the mechanic will be to have the umpire not only watch the clock but give me a signal to hold the ready until it is under 25 seconds.

Yeah but...
 

Nope, you missed it. By rule, there no untimed down as this was a dead ball foul. To have an untimed down, there must be a foul <B>during the last down</b> of the period. A down doesn't begin until the ball is snapped. So whether I put the 1 second on the clock or not, the observer is wrong, as there is no untimed down. If there had been 10 seconds remaining on the clock, I would wind the clock. If A did not get the play off, there would not be an untimed down.

My real question was would you have put the 1 second back on the clock, only to wind the clock on the ready and have time expire anyway since there's no chance of A legally getting a play off?

Re: Yeah but...
 

Well, the delay of game was a dead ball foul. But remember under 3-6-2, 3-4-1i and 3.6.2 acceptance of the penalty causes the clock to start on the snap. The snap occurred with one second remaining and the play continues after time expires.

The pass interference was a live ball foul. Under 3-3-3a acceptance of the penalty requires an untimed down.

Within 25 seconds or less I always give the captain his options and the status of the clock should he accept or decline.

Re: Re: Yeah but...
 

Your play was a delay of game, so the clock starts on the snap. My play was a false start, so the clock starts on the ready, since the foul caused the clock to be stopped. That's why I didn't ask the timer to place one second on the clock, so that I could wind it and take it right back off.

False Start between periods??
 

My play was a false start, so the clock starts on the ready, since the foul caused the clock to be stopped. That's why I didn't ask the timer to place one second on the clock, so that I could wind it and take it right back off.
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If you had a false start, that means that it had to have happened before the end of the period. The false start kills the clock. Therefore you need to take this into account. If you say false start and the period is over, that implies that the foul happened between periods.

While making your job a little more tedious for a "do-it-by-the-book" reason, you would have cleared up the fact that the foul was indeed prior to the end of the period, necessitating time on the clock.

Big whistle,

You are wrong. A period is only extended if a foul occurs DURING the down. A foul between downs does not extend a period. Enforce the false start at one second, wind the clock and end the period. This is "by the book"! If the clock ticked to zero by mistake, there's no need to put it on just to wind it off.

Steve,

I agree that the period should not be extended. My point is that there has to be time on the clock in order to have a false start foul. Otherwise it was called after the period was over, and the offense could argue (albeit rather weakly) that the lineman was just getting up to go to the other end of the field.

The only type of fouls that you could have during a dead ball after time has run out in a period would be personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct.

By agreeing that there should be some time on the clock, the false start can be enforced, and then wind the clock to end the period.