Question: A fumble that goes out of bounds?

bamarebel said:

Does the clock stop? Does it depend on the type of fumble? For instance a fumble that goes out of bounds in front vs behind the location of the fumble. Also I have forgotten if the fumble goes back to the location of the fumble if it goes out of bounds in front.

To the main point, if the football is lateraled out of bounds in the finals minutes, what happens? A lateral can be described as a backwards pass.

Click to expand...

Bruce014 said:

I don't think the offense can gain yardage from a fumble. I believe that this is the Kenny Stabler rule.

Click to expand...

selmaborntidefan said:

That's only the last 2 minutes of the half - I think.

Click to expand...

tide96 said:

Also not on 4th down.

Click to expand...

I decided to go the the source, on page 73 of the official NCAA football rules it says the clock stops: “With fewer than two minutes remaining in a half a Team A ball carrier, fumble or backward pass is ruled out of bounds.”However, on page 103 (of 272) it states: “A ball carrier may hand or pass the ball backward at any time, except to throw the ball intentionally out of bounds to conserve time. [The penalty for breaking the rule is] five yards from the spot of the foul; also loss of down.” The clock is started when the ball is ready for play (rule 3-4-3 says the clock restarts on the ready to play signal for “unfair clock tactics” penalties).
From the rule book appendix: “A ball carrier, late in the second period, throws a backward pass out of bounds from behind or beyond the neutral zone to conserve time. RULING: Penalty – Five yards from the spot of the foul and loss of down. The clock starts on the ready-for-play signal.” By the way an illegal forward pass has the same penalty.
Still to me this leaves a very good reason to lateral the ball out of bounds. It should certainly take less time to line up and ground the ball after the ball is marked ready for play than it would if the clock is never stopped. Often you could still have time to run a play or just ground the ball and stop the clock.

Click to expand...