Illegal forward pass question

[KoKoPuf]

I was watching the Utah & ASU game and on an ASU kickoff, Utah tried the old throw the ball back across the field trick with both players in the end zone. However, the ball was thrown slightly forward, the receiver fumbled, or didn't catch it and ASU recovered. Refs ruled that it was illegal forward pass in the end zone and ruled safety and play was dead when ball was thrown forward. I thought that it was a forward lateral and the ball was live. Am I wrong? If a ball carrier past the line of scrimmage tosses the ball forward to another player, is the play dead? Or if the second player drops the toss is it a fumble? Remember on the kickoff there was no line of scrimmage.

[ricky023]

I think if the ball is passed forward it suppose to come back to that point and be a penalty with a loss of down. I hope I am right. I am waiting to see who helps us out here. RTR!

[KoKoPuf]

That is kind of what I thought but what if the pitch is fumbled and recovered by the opposing team? Do they then have the option of taking the play and not the penalty? I know if the QB is behind the line of scrimmage it is just an incomplete pass but what if he, or another ball carrier is beyond the line of scrimmage? I have lots of questions but not so many answers. Maybe hscoach will have the answer.

[ricky023]

That is kind of what I thought but what if the pitch is fumbled and recovered by the opposing team? Do they then have the option of taking the play and not the penalty? I know if the QB is behind the line of scrimmage it is just an incomplete pass but what if he, or another ball carrier is beyond the line of scrimmage? I have lots of questions but not so many answers. Maybe hscoach will have the answer.

You got me on this one. I am not sure, cause it seems if he pass the LS then the penalty could be declined and the play taken and it would be whoever recovered the fumble. RTR!

[hscoach]

I think anot illegal forward pass stops the play and is a penalty.   I guess because you can't mark off a penalty in the end zone it is a safety.

[SUPERCOACH]

He is considered tackled at the point where he threw the ball, hence the safety.  The refs got it right.  You can not throw the ball forward at all on a kickoff or punt.

[ALTideUp]

And so to add just one more sentence, the play is dead as soon as the ball leaves the kick receiver's hands, so it doesn't matter what becomes of the ball after that.

What happens if, say, the kick receiver trips, the ball pops out of his grasp, moves forward and ends up in the hands of a teammate without touching the ground. In other words, does it have "look like" a pass for the dead ball call to apply?

[SUPERCOACH]

You can't fumble forward, right?  So the ball is dead again as soon as he fumbles and would still be a safety I think.  Of course this assumes he had control of the ball after the catch and then fumbled while he was trying to run out of the end zone.

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