Clock Stopped at end of USC-ND Game

[Walter Pullis]

Neutral observer.
This regards the clock stopping at 7 secs. when QB fumbled
out of bounds. Doesn't this rule seem wrong, even if interpreted correctly. You could "fumble your way to victory" in a sense. Say you've run out of time outs in the last minute. You instruct your backs to toss the ball out
of bounds as soon as they are hit if they are close to out of bounds but may not get there.

Actually I think the officials are supposed to keep the clock running, but try to get a ball in play as soon as possible.

[Sponger15SB]

Damn, you've uncovered the secret to victory! I'm sure coaches will begin to use this to their advantage now that you've thought of this new and incredibly innovative strategy.

[Walter Pullis]

For crying out loud, I was exaggerating. I simply meant that you could get a cheap time out by a fumble, which is actually a mistake/bad play.

[RacersEdge]

See here.

[jstnrgrs]

I believe in the NFL, they would have kept the clock running, but CFB has a number of rule flaws that aren't in the NFL.

[mmbt0ne]

Also, luckily there's no TO without a TO penalty a la Chris Webber, because I think 85% of the USC sideline was trying to call one.

in the nfl inside of 2 minutes the ball would be dead wherever the fumble started and the clock would keep running, must be different in college

[ThaSaltCracka]

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in the nfl inside of 2 minutes the ball would be dead wherever the fumble started and the clock would keep running, must be different in college

[/ QUOTE ]can someone please post a link for this rule.

[imported_anacardo]

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in the nfl inside of 2 minutes the ball would be dead wherever the fumble started and the clock would keep running, must be different in college

[/ QUOTE ]can someone please post a link for this rule.

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No,but I can tell you why it's the rule; one of John Madden's Raider teams won a game this way in the '70s. Ken Stabler shoveled the ball forward as he was being tackled, and some Raiders kicked it into the end zone, where Dave Casper fell on it to win the game. Insta-rule change.

[bernie]

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in the nfl inside of 2 minutes the ball would be dead wherever the fumble started and the clock would keep running, must be different in college

[/ QUOTE ]can someone please post a link for this rule.

[/ QUOTE ]

No,but I can tell you why it's the rule; one of John Madden's Raider teams won a game this way in the '70s. Ken Stabler shoveled the ball forward as he was being tackled, and some Raiders kicked it into the end zone, where Dave Casper fell on it to win the game. Insta-rule change.

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Which has nothing to do with stopping the clock. It had to do with advancing a fumble by someone other than the original ball carrier. Nor is the ball dead just because the ball is fumbled.

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THE KEN STABLER RULE - A large segment of pro football fandom liked to think that the Raiders played slightly, or sometimes more, outside of the rules of the game. The black-clad Raiders did little themselves to dispell the thinking. In a Week 2 game in 1977 at San Diego, the Silver & Black Attack was in dire straits in the game's final seconds -- though in the red zone, behind 20-14. Kenny Stabler was back to pass one last time. His receivers were covered, so the inventive Snake did the only thing a true Raider would do. He bent, if not broke, the rules. He fumbled the ball -- forward. Running back Pete Banaszak was nearby, but couldn't or wouldn't pick it up – instead he booted it toward the end zone. Then tight end Dave Casper got into the act. He soccer-dribbled the ball into the end zone as time expired and fell on it. Touchdown! Errol Mann's PAT gave the Raiders a 21-20 victory, despite the Chargers protestations.

Ex post facto or after the fact, that sly, good oI’ boy Stabler confessed that he, indeed, fumbled forward on purpose. That was enough for the rules committee. No more “lmmaculate Deceptions," or “Holy RoIlers.” On fourth down or any down in the final two-minutes of play, if a player fumbles, “only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball,” was how the rule read for the 1979 season.



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