Heaved Ball on Final Play

authored by Jake Harvanchik

Fourth and 19 on A's 1. Team A is leading 28-27. There is 3 seconds left in the game. Team B called a timeout, so the clock starts on the snap. The ball is snapped to A-1 who instantly heaves the ball down the field from the end zone. There is no receiver near the area where the ball eventually lands. The clock expires while the ball is in flight. What is the result?

The pass is incomplete and the game is over. There is no intentional grounding in this case, because the quarterback is neither conserving time nor preventing yardage loss (Rule 7-7-2E). Furthermore, the quarterback is legally consuming time.