Touchback/Safety penalty

[Forksref]

That is as bad as the play in a state final (I think it was Idaho), where A was ahead by one and the QB wanted to run out the clock and he ran backwards to use up time and ended up in his EZ. He either downed the ball (can't remember the details) or ran out of the back of EZ as time expired.

In the OP, John nailed it. Safety. Or in the current news terminology: the player, "acted stupidly."

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by Forksref

That is as bad as the play in a state final (I think it was Idaho), where A was ahead by one and the QB wanted to run out the clock and he ran backwards to use up time and ended up in his EZ. He either downed the ball (can't remember the details) or ran out of the back of EZ as time expired.

In the OP, John nailed it. Safety. Or in the current news terminology: the player, "acted stupidly."

It was Washington state. The QB was conceding a safety, ran into the end zone and simply dropped the ball. An alert defender fell on it.