Extending the Period/Game

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

However, team A was misled into believing that the ball had been live with a foul during that down that was penalized with the down to be repeated, and their coach therefore believed they had the right to an untimed down.

I don't think anyone was misled. That implies some sort of deception (intentional or not) on our part. Indeed, when I announced the foul, I gave the usual dead ball foul signal, and even said "Dead ball. Encroachment. 5 yards from the previous spot. Still first down."

I think the coach had in his mind the usual "Game cannot end on a defensive penalty" misconception. Now, I haven't been clear on this point, but I did discuss it with the A coach after the game. I told him that there was no foul on the last timed down of the period, so we do not extend the period with an untimed down. He argued it was a defensive penalty and I told him it didn't matter if it was offensive or defensive. Since this foul did not occur on the last _timed down_, there was no extension. He didn't agree, and he didn't persuade me otherwise. We left it at that.

Now, whether the coach thought he'd get an untimed down or not certainly wasn't our fault. We didn't tell him, or even hint to him that would be the case. As I pointed out, my wing told him "The clock will start at the ready" while A was at the sidelines. In fact, I think that hint "the clock will start..." would be significant.