[Husker] Returning a Lateral

[Nick Chevance]

On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 10:36 AM, Mike Nolan <nolan at romaine.tssi.com> wrote:

> Under the current rules, a fumbled lateral is a backwards (or sideways)
> pass that can be recovered and advanced by the defense, even if it hits
> the ground.  Of course, a forward pass that hits the ground is incomplete
> and the play is dead.

And to add a slight correction (and confusion, I might add) to this
and to my earlier post, the NCAA rulebook (2007 version) actually only
defines forward pass (determined by the point where the ball is
caught, intercepted or strikes an official or the ground beyond the
spot of the pass) and backward pass (all other passes).  In rules
parlance, beyond means forward, so any pass that moves the ball
forward is a forward pass, and any pass that doesn't move the ball
forward is a backwards pass, even though it may not be backwards
(i.e., lateral).

What would we do without lawyers???

Nick
-- 
"If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
Anatole France