Illegal touching
 

Talking more football.

Last Friday night, I had a play I'm sure we handled well, but I'm open to improvements.

QB drops back from the shotgun and is pressured. He's forced in my direction, so I'm (WH) scrambling to get deeper and wider, out of his way.

He just gets rid of the pass (he's hit just as he throws) and is tackled at my feet. The pass was not deflected, but floated up towards the LOS.

Interior lineman #57 was near the ball and reached for it (before realizing he shouldn't), but I was unsure whether he muffed the pass or not. I signaled the pass incomplete and noted where #57 touched the ball. I went up and talked to the umpire and asked him what he saw -- he said #57 touched the ball, but he was unsure if the pass was tipped. I told him that it wasn't. The L was nearby, so we asked him if there was an eligible receiver in the area of the pass and there was one close enough. I threw a flag at the spot of the touching and enforced the illegal touching penalty.

The only comment from the offense's coach was that he was impressed at how we came together to "get it right."

Any suggestions on how to handle this better? Would you throw a flag immediately and then pick it up if it wasn't a foul? The only reason I wonder this is because it looks like I made up a spot of the foul since the flag came in so late.

Sounds like you handled it fine to me. Did your U not have a flag because he wasn't sure if the pass had been tipped or not?

I might prefer that the flag be thrown immediately and then the crew comes together to discuss if the pass was tipped but you got the spot of the foul and got it right so that is probably trivial.

I don't think it matters at all if the flag is dropped after your conversation. What matters is getting it right and it sounds like you did just that. It would be no different than an IG call where you get together with part or all of your crew then drop the flag after agreement.

On the other hand, dropping the flag then discussing it (and potentially picking it up) is akin to a wing or BJ flagging DPI, then getting together to discuss if the pass was tipped. Personally, I cannot see and great advantage to one approach over the other (i.e. flagging then discussing versus discussing then flagging).

I assume you meant the spot of the touching and not the spot where the pass was thrown from.

Thank you. Yes, my error in the post (not on the field). I've edited the original post.

It seems like you handled it properly. My only suggestion would be as WH to start out "deeper and wider."

The mechanic I would prefer is for the U to flag the illegal touching because that is what he saw. If he then finds out the ball was tipped, then he picks it up. I see this as a little different than IG because the R doesn't know yet if there was anyone in the area (a requirement). The tipped ball creates an exception to the illegal touching penalty so I would expect it to result in a flag and then get picked up if it was determined the pass was tipped. I think either mechanic is perfectly acceptable though.