fumble ruling

[BoBo]

A15 running the ball near the sideline. He is tackled and stripped from behind and fumbles the ball on B's 25.

Ball goes to B's 22 near the sideline.

A15 has his left hand touching out of bounds and his right hand on the ball in play at B's 22 but not in full control.

Meanwhile B55 picks up ball and advances to B 35.

Whose ball and where?

Is the ball declared dead once a player who is out of bounds touches the ball inbounds???

[Reffing Rev.]

THe moment A15 while touching out of bounds touched the ball the ball was dead and out of bounds at that spot. A's ball at the spot. Since we have a loose ball out of bounds, it belongs to the team in possession (last player to be in possession). B recovered a dead ball.

[mbyron]

I never noticed the missing (and crucial) commas in rule 2-29.

2-29-1: A player or other person is out of bounds when any part of the
person is touching anything, other than another player or game official[,] that is on
or outside the sideline or end line.

2-29-3: A loose ball is out of bounds when it touches anything, including a
player or game official[,] that is out of bounds.

7-4-3: The ball belongs to the passing or fumbling team unless lost after
fourth down if a fumble or a backward pass:
a. Goes out of bounds between the goal lines;

[Welpe]

Lord Byron...interesting find though I think the strict enforcement of the rule sans the commans would be entertaining and non-sensical, the coaches might get a little angry.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Lord Byron...interesting find though I think the strict enforcement of the rule sans the commas would be entertaining and non-sensical, the coaches might get a little angry.

I imagine so. By that reading, a loose ball that touched anything would be out of bounds. "Coach, by rule that pass was out of bounds as soon as your player caught it."

Maybe on April 1.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by BoBo

A15 running the ball near the sideline. He is tackled and stripped from behind and fumbles the ball on B's 25.

Ball goes to B's 22 near the sideline.

A15 has his left hand touching out of bounds and his right hand on the ball in play at B's 22 but not in full control.

Meanwhile B55 picks up ball and advances to B 35.

Whose ball and where?

I notice a lot of people answering "whose", but "where" depends on the code. In NCAA, the spot would be the B 25, because the B 22 would be farther from the offense's end line.

Robert