Illegal Fowrad Pass or Not?

[Bob M.]

Originally posted by Tom Cook
Of course, if the legal part of the play resulted in a 1st down, we would only enforce the 5 yd. penalty.

Tom...I think I know what you're saying, but we need to be sensitive to folks who might misinterpret what you've said. If after assessing the five yard penalty, Team A is still beyond the line to gain, then you're correct: the loss of down is not applicable. However, if after assessing the five yards, Team A is still behind the line to gain, you do indeed assess the loss of down as well, regardless of whether or not the legal part of A's advance was beyond the line to gain. For example, PLAY: A, 3-10 from midfield. A10 advances to B's 38 where he hands the ball forward to A20. RULING: A's ball 4-3 from B's 43.

Even though the "legal" part of the play did bring the ball beyond the line to gain, you still need to assess the LOD since the enforcement of the 5 yard penalty brought the ball back behind the line to gain. If the legal advance had been to B's 20, then the LOD would be immaterial since even after the yardage assessment, A would still be in possession beyond the LTG. Agreed??