Illegal Forward Pass

[Forksref]

As R, I have the call as I am the one following the QB. The wings are downfield in our 5-man format. The U backs me up but is more concerned with blocking and ineligibles illegally downfield. The U is invariably farther away from the QB when the ball is thrown since these are usually rollout plays. Many times there are players between the U and the QB so he doesn't have the "perfect" view plus, if it is to the LJ side, he will have to look back over his shoulder to see the downbox and miss the action that he is supposed to watch. I watch where the QB is when the ball is thrown and I go to that spot and stop, keeping my head up and continuing to officiate. When the play is over, I look to the chain side for the downbox and make my judgment. If I had to continue to move downfield to officiate, I'd drop my beanbag at the spot. After watching our crew on game tapes, I've seen us get it right every time. My U will let me know his opinion and we have agreed 100% in the past. When he is 100% certain we go with his call. I had one the other night where I thought it was close, but, upon reaching the spot and waiting for the play to end and check, I realized the QB was about 2-3 yds short, but our mechanic on the play worked.