Last Timed Down
 

K punts with 4 seconds left on the clock in the first half. During the return, the face mask of R45 is grabbed and turned at R's 30 and he runs another 5 yards to the 35. The facemask personal foul is called and we spot the ball at the 50 yard line. Do we give R one untimed down at the fifty to run a play from scrimmage?

Of course. Why wouldn't you. This is a textbook example of why the rules give another down on a penalty like this.

Were it not the case, K could foul all it wanted to prevent a TD, with no penalty.

Here is another situation that prompted a fan/friend to call me last week. I was not working the game but...here it is:
As time runs out A runs ball and is downed close to goal line but doesn't score. foul by B during the live ball. untimed down is ruled. A comes to line, and false starts. 5 yards enforced against A. Even though they false started the untimed down from the previous live ball had not been run yet, so the untimed down is still run after the false start by A. needless to say, A scores, B loses and the fan was a fan of B and wanted to know why A got to run the play even after their false start. :mad: I explained that is was because the false start was a dead ball foul and the untimed down had not yet been run yet...

unless I am missing something had I been the R this is what I would have ruled as well.

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

This is a UR foul. B can apply the penalty at the end of the play, thereby extending this quarter. Or, they can choose to enforce the penalty at the beginning of the next quarter. If the play occurred at the end of the 4th quarter, they can enforce in the first inning of overtime.

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

We're still giving A an untimed down too. However, the B foul could have a different enforcement spot.

Absolutely.

Think of it this way. About the only way you will not run an untimed down, is when a team fouls and the penalty has a LOD component to the enforcement. Or it is the last play of regulation and they cannot have the option to enforce the penalty on the kickoff (e.g. on a TD play).

Peace

Please tell me your rulebook doesn't actually call them innings...

Our overtime procedure does too (we're in Wisconsin).

It doesn't, but "inning" is the best way to describe the OT procedure.

Originally (1870s) the periods were called innings. Probably because baseball had an established set of rules (from the 1850s) and football was trying to emulate baseball's nationalized rule set.

Even so, NFHS's and NCAA's overtime rules are inning based, whether we call it that or not.