DPI blown call ?

[jstafan]

Hello all, first of all want to say I have learned alot these last couple of days since if found your fourm. I'm just your average Joe with a kid that plays youth football and thought that I new a little bit about the rules. after reading all the posts I have realized that I dont know what I thought I knew and the officials in my area arnt as bad as I thought they was. LOL. any way heres a call that took me a little bit to figure out.
Team A has the ball its 3rd and 38, final minute 30 of game, team A needs to score to tie game. A passes the ball, B gets flagged for DPI. The crew awards team A 15 yards its now 4th and 23. Team A exploads says it should be a automatic 1st down. I'm thinking the same thing. So when I get home I start to look up rules for DPI. I found that dpi carriers a 15yd penitly and also a auto first down. So I guessed they got that wrong. should have been 1st down. But couldnt figure just the 15 yds they assessed. Still not satisfied I kept reading and found out that you cant have DPI if the ball is behind the L.O.S. (which this pass was)So what I'm thinking now is that team B got the short end of that stick because it shouldnt have been called at all, let alone the additional 15 yds that got added to team A. So what do you all think about that one and is there any DPI that would be awarded just the 15yds?
Thanks

[JRutledge]

The question I would have was it actually a DPI call? DPI of any kind is either a first down or a loss of down (if the offense commits the foul). I only say this because you are just a fan and fans often misconstrue calls and the officials do not have a microphone to describe the call. I was not there, but something sounds missing from this story.

Peace

[jstafan]

yes they signaled pass interference

[JRutledge]

As I said I was not there. There sounds like there is more to the story. And the reason I say this, you were not likely on the field. And you were not directly informed like the coaches were I would presume. Honestly it does not matter to me what they signaled, signals have been wrong in the past. There are just so many things that would need to be answered; I would not expect you to know all those details. Only the crew or the coach would be able to answer those questions in an accurate way. Obviously the rule is clear on DPI and what the down should be.

Peace

[mbyron]

You are nearly correct about DPI, though the restriction applies to the neutral zone, not the line of scrimmage: "Pass interference restrictions only apply beyond the neutral zone and only if the legal forward pass, untouched by B in or behind the neutral zone, crosses the neutral zone."

The penalty for DPI is 15 yards plus an automatic 1st down. If everything you said is correct, then the officials either:
a) got the conditions and enforcement of DPI wrong (2 major errors)
b) gave the wrong signal for some other foul.

The only foul which would yield the result that you describe is a dead-ball PF or USC foul.

[jstafan]

Thanks for the replys. Thanks for setting me stright on the neutral zone vs the line of scrimmage. mbyron after reading your reply you have given me another question. if the ball was tipped on the pass behind the los and the ball travels past the neutral zone, can there be a dpi past the nz?

Just talk to a friend that was running the chains on that game and he said that, on that play he ask the line judge about that and the LJ said that it was not a automatic 1st down in high school. Not sure where he would have got that from because its deffinetly a first down.