4th down fumble glitch

[VUFTBL1]

so i'm on defense and my opponent has the ball 4th and 1. he qb sneaks it and just gets past the 1st down marker. but then i wallop him and cause a fumble. the fumble actually goes back 2 yards shy of the 1st down marker. in the scrum one of his offensive linemen picks it up but it is clear i'm going to tackle him before he can gain the first down line... but as soon as the o-lineman recovers the fumble the play stops and it gives my opponent a 1st down at the point of the fumble. he went on to score a td on that series. that stunk!!

[kestrel]

That's only a slight misinterpretation of the rule which is:

Quote:

When on fourth down, before a change of team possession, a Team A fumble is recovered in advance of the fumble by a Team A player other than the fumbler, the ball is dead and returned to the spot of the fumble. If the fumble is recovered behind the spot of the fumble by a Team A player other than the Team A fumbler, the ball is dead at that spot.

While the play being dead was the correct call (any other down, any player can advance the ball, just not of fourth down), since the fumble was recovered behind the spot of the fumble, the play should have been dead there. And, since that spot was behind the first down line, it should have been your ball.

The thing that complicates it is that the fumble occurred beyond the first down line; however, since it was recovered behind that line, in my opinion, there should have been a turnover on downs.

[Cryolemon]

It's a needlessly complex rule in my opinion anyway, but yeah, the game is wrong.

[TrevJo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cryolemon

It's a needlessly complex rule in my opinion anyway,

Tell that to the '78 Chargers

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cryolemon

It's a needlessly complex rule in my opinion anyway, but yeah, the game is wrong.

Actually I think the game is right. I am pretty sure the ball either goes back to the spot of the fumble or to the spot it was recovered whichever is less.

[Deegeezy]

On 4th down the play ends if the person that fumbles isn't the one to recover it. The ball goes back to the spot of the fumble.

This prevents players from purposely fumbling on the down hoping to gain extra yardage since they'd have nothing more to lose.

[roganuga]

well the game is right. The player fumbled ahead of the first down marker (forward progress) and then fumbled, so he got the first down because of forward progress.

But anyone watch the OU OU state game? Bradford fumbled twice on fourth down, and the refs forgot the rule that you can't advance the ball on fourth down. OU state would have beaten them.

[rhombic21]

Quote: Originally Posted by roganuga

well the game is right. The player fumbled ahead of the first down marker (forward progress) and then fumbled, so he got the first down because of forward progress. But anyone watch the OU OU state game? Bradford fumbled twice on fourth down, and the refs forgot the rule that you can't advance the ball on fourth down. OU state would have beaten them.

Bradford fumbled on second and third down in the OSU game. And neither time did anybody else advance the ball.