IW on pass play that is intercepted w/flag
 

OK here we go.

Last night lower level game

A has ball 2nd 8 on A's 32

A10 drops back to pass and throws to A88 on A's 45.

B24 comes thru A88's back and LJ throws flag for Defensive Pass Interference.

He also blows his whistle shortly there after while ball is still airborne.

B38 intercepts the pass at B's 48.

Begins to return it but we blow it dead because of the IW.

What the heck do we have and what do we do.

Who has what option???

Since you've got a foul A has to decide if they want to accept or decline the penalty. Clearly they will accept the DPI foul in this case. Since there is an accepted penalty you can ignore the IW.

Where this gets a little more interesting is if there was no flag on the play.

If there is no flag, B gets hosed. Since A was in team possession at the time of the IW they would get to choose. Since the ball was loose at the time they can take the ball at the end of the last run (and the last run was the quarterback dropping back to throw) or they can replay the down. In this case they'd choose to replay the down and B can't retain possesion.

I don't have my book with me so this is what I would do on the field, am I correct about team possession determining whose option or does it go all the way back to the team that snapped the ball. In other words, if the IW came after B had completed the interception, would it be B's choice.

What we did was give A the option with the flag being thrown the IW is ignored with the accepted DPI and automatic first down.

The question i have does it matter if the ball was airborne and NOT possessed by B when the whistle blew or not.

Hope we never have it again but just want to get it right.

Ok so let's deal with this first with the play with a flag, and just for fun we'll remove the flag and see what happens with the IW.

We're going to ignore the whistle (4-2-3-Note) because there's going to be an accepted penalty. A is going to accept the DPI foul and so you will march off 15 from the PS and auto first down, so A 1/10 @ A-47. In this case the clock is going to start on the RFP (3-4-4-i, 3-4-2-c).

In this situation you're lucky because it's the same result as if there had been no IW.

Now let's look at it without the flag. And furthermore, let's examine what would happen if a) the IW was before B intercepted while the ball was still loose, and b) the IW was after B had intercepted.

In a) there is no option for either team. The ball is still loose due to its status as a legal forward pass in flight (touched, batted, muffed, it doesn't matter...it's still a legal forward pass until it's complete, incomplete or intercepted) so the down must be replayed. End of story. Clock on the RFP (4-2-3-a, 3-4-4-i, 3-4-2-c).

In b) now we have a ball in player possession so now that team has the option of replaying the down (which they're not going to do) or taking the ball at the spot that the IW was blown(which they will do). So B 1/10 @ the spot/yardline when the IW was blown. And you know the spot because you had a beanbag down at the spot when you heard the IW, right? Clock on the snap because even though there was an IW, B was awarded a new series (3-4-3-b).

Actually where the passer was when the ball was thrown makes no difference. We have an IW while a legal forward pass is in flight. There are no options, period..the down has to be replayed and the clock starts on the RFP.

A penalty before the IW is the best thing that can happen.

DPI, ignore the IW.

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

The IW ended the play. Enforce the DPI and continue as usual. A keeps the ball.