Question
In the BC at Montreal game on Friday night, late in the game, the BC running back caught a pass, advanced the ball to the one yard line and then tried to flip it into the end zone to another BC player. A flag was thrown for an offside pass, but there was no penalty yardage assessed. How come?
Answer
An offside pass occurs when a player directs the ball toward the opponent’s dead ball line (does not apply on a kicked ball).
In the rule book (page 44) there is a clause that states that “the team making an offside pass shall not be permitted to advance the ball … beyond the point of origin of the pass”.
Effectively, that means that the ball comes back to the origin of the pass and it remains BC ball. Since they had already gained the necessary yards for a first down, it became BC’s ball and a first down at the one yard line. An offside pass does not carry a yardage penalty.
Tom Higgins is the CFL’s Director of Officiating. Prior to joining the Canadian Football League office, Higgins spent more than 25 years as a player, coach and personnel director.
