Progress Stopped, or Play On?

[Robert Goodman]

I wouldn't have it as a dead ball, but of course it's arguable. The question about foward progress being stopped is, as always, for how long? I believe the intention of the rule is to allow the offense any reasonable chance to advance the ball. In Canadian rules, in addition to having progress stopped, the ballcarrier must be unable or unwilling to part with the ball. No such exception in Federation or NCAA, and indeed in NCAA rules it says that when in question, the ball is dead. Still, I think it's within the spirit of the rule to allow for plays such as in the video.

However, there are additional considerations. Was this forward handing of the ball? It's fairly clear that the ball exchange occurred after both backs had been driven back behind their scrimmage line, so even if the ball was handed forward, I think it was done legally.

But the next question, if this was in NCAA rules, is, was this handing the ball or a fumble? It's not clear that the original ballcarrier actually handed the ball off rather than having it stripped by a teammate, in which case it would be a fumble. If that's the case, you have 4th down recovery of a fumble by someone other than the fumbler and before a change in team possession, so in NCAA the ball would've been dead there anyway.