Change of Possession, untimed down??

[Bob M.]

REPLY: Eventually DrMoore, you got to the right ruling. The period is over. And you subsequently did point out a flaw in the IFP penalty. An IFP by B after a change of possession does not specify loss of down and therfore would require an untimed down. But this is thoroughly inconsistent with the intent of the 3.3 rule calling for the period to end (without an untimed down) if the penalty includes a loss of down provision. The actual play that caused that rule to be accepted a few years back was one where on the final play in regulation, A ran down near B's goal line and threw a forward pass to a teammate for a TD. B was obviously forced to accept the penalty which resulted in an untimed down in which A kicked a FG and won the game. That same situation could just as easily happen after a COP.

And by the way, while illegally handing the ball forward in NCAA also includes LOD if by Team A (but not by Team B after a COP), NCAA does not have the exception to the rule which eliminates an untimed down if the foul includes LOD.