Intentional Grounding

[Sportsmaniac432]

Team A has the ball down 6 with 1:00 to go in 4th quarter. It is 4th and 10 from their own 5 yard line. QB is in endzone when he realizes that he is going to be sacked and throws it away. Intentional grounding is called resulting in a safety, Team A then proceeds to kick onside kick. Now the question. Is this a declinable penalty in which Team B takes over at the original LOS and kneels down to end the game without the added suspense of a onside?

[ppaltice]

No. IG is considered a running play and the end of the run is in the end zone. Take the penalty or decline, it is a safety.

[Cobra]

The succeeding spot is the previous spot only after a legal forward pass. 7-5 Art 2, 3, and 5.

"If the pass is legal, the passing team next snaps the ball at the previous spot, unless lost after fourth down"

"If the penalty for an illegal forward pass is accepted, measurement is from the spot of such forward pass. If the offended team declines the distance penalty, it has the choice of having the down counted at the spot of the illegal incomplete forward pass or (if the illegal forward pass is caught or intercepted) of having the ball put in play as determined by the action which followed the catch."

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Sportsmaniac432

Is this a declinable penalty in which Team B takes over at the original LOS and kneels down to end the game without the added suspense of a onside?

ppaltice is correct. Whether the penalty is accepted or declined, the play ended in the end zone. An illegal forward pass is a running play, not your routine incomplete pass play where the ball goes back to the previous spot. The QB's run ended in the end zone, so it's the same as being tackled there.

I love posting this question for fans on Fan football sites.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Sportsmaniac432

Team A has the ball down 6 with 1:00 to go in 4th quarter. It is 4th and 10 from their own 5 yard line. QB is in endzone when he realizes that he is going to be sacked and throws it away. Intentional grounding is called resulting in a safety, Team A then proceeds to kick onside kick. Now the question. Is this a declinable penalty in which Team B takes over at the original LOS and kneels down to end the game without the added suspense of a onside?

CANADIAN RULING:

Of course B can decline the penalty and take the result of the play - which is an incomplete pass, and therefore a turnover on downs: Team B 1D/G @ A-5

[With_Two_Flakes]

Ditto in NCAA rules. B can decline and take the ball in rather nice field position.