2. RULING: A's ball, 1st and 10, on B's 28. Snap. The five yard penalty is enforced from the previous spot, B's 33. The clock was stopped to award a first down to Team B. There were rumors that the clock would only start on the snap if Team B next snapped the ball. The 2007 ruling turned out to be the same as the 2005 ruling. Be advised that a related play that some officials have indicated that they would ignore a part thereof will appear on a future mini-missive on Starting the Clock.
3. RULING: B's ball, 1st and 10, on B's 43. A82 was offside since he broke the plane of Team A's restraining line. The fumble went backward and out of bounds. The spot where the subsequent dead ball belongs to Team B is A's 38. The enforcement spot would be B's 42 if the fumble went forward and out of bounds between the goal lines. The clock will start on the snap.
4. RULING: B's ball, 1st and 10, on A's 36. The five yard penalty will be enforced from A's 41, the spot where the dead ball belongs to Team B. If a Team A player recovered the ball on A's 44, Team B would take the ball at the spot of illegal touching, A's 38. Team B must decline the penalty to take the ball at the spot of illegal touching. The penalty must be completed before Team B may take the ball at the spot of illegal touching unless the illegal touching occurs in Team B's end zone.
5. RULING: A's ball, 2nd and 2, on A's 38. A15 is an eligible receiver. However, after many years with no changes to 9-3-4-e, the passer is now listed as an exception to the first down provision. A15 is a passer from the time that he releases the ball until the pass is complete, incomplete or intercepted or A15 moves to participate in the play. The first down provision of 9-3-4-e only applies until the pass is touched. Since A15 is an eligible receiver including the period prior to release of the pass and no other exceptions were made to the rule, it is reasonable to assume that an incidental face mask foul against an eligible receiver prior to the pass being released would result in a first down. The ruling when the incidental grasping starts just prior to the pass being released and continues until just after the pass is released is left as an exercise for the student. COMMENT: This rule was just fine when it first surfaced years ago without exceptions to the eligible receiver requirement.
6. RULING: B's ball, 1st and 10, on A's 23 The result of the play is a touchback. A77 committed an illegal touching violation on A's 23 since the punt crossed the neutral zone. The recovery and advance by B96 is legal. The ball became dead when it hit the goal line pylon.
7. RULING: A's ball, 3rd and 17, on A's 39. Since the ball became dead on A's 39, all subsequent live ball fouls except personal fouls (e.g. holding, incidental face mask) are ignored. This is the last known directive although it is not in the rule book. If A23 had not stepped on the sideline, a five yard penalty would be enforced from the end of the run, A's 42, and the down replayed. (Correction: 6/15/07)