Be the Referee: Fumble Out of Bounds
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Director of Brand Management
August 25, 2026
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Fumble Out of Bounds - Listen
We are on the football field today, where the offense has the ball on their own 20-yard line. It’s 3rd-and 10. They run a draw play, with the running back gaining nine yards before fumbling at the 29 yard-line.
The fumbled ball goes forward to the 35-yard line before another offensive player recovers. Where should the ball be marked?
Because the ball was recovered in-bounds, it’s first down for the offense at the point of recovery, the 35-yard line.
If the ball had rolled out of bounds at the 35-yard line, before anyone could recover it, it would have been brought back to the spot of the fumble – the 29-yard line – making it 4th-and-1 for the offense.
(Photo by Larry Arreguin/Team Arreguin Photos.)
Watch Selection Sunday Online
October 25, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
High school football fans unable to watch tonight’s announcement of the qualifiers and pairings for the 2015 MHSAA Football Playoffs – presented by the Michigan Army National Guard – on cable or satellite via FOX Sports Detroit, can tune in live at 7 p.m. on their computer or handheld devices and follow these instructions:
On Your Desktop/Laptop Computer
- Go to FOXSportsGo.com
- Click on the “All Chs” menu at the bottom left of the page
- Select “FOX Sports Go Extras”
- Scroll to “MHSAA Football Selection Sunday” and enjoy the show
On Your Handheld Device
- Download the free FOX Sports Go app from your store
- Click on the “All Channels” menu at the top of the app
- Select “FOX Sports Go Extras”
- Scroll to “MHSAA Football Selection Sunday” and enjoy the show
FOX Sports Detroit also will be the home for four live streaming games each week of the playoffs on the FOXSportsDetroit.com website and will carry all nine championship games from Detroit. The 8-Player Final on Nov. 20 and the Division 4 11-Player Final on Nov. 27 will be shown on a delayed basis, but shown live on FOXSportsDetroit.com; all other Finals will be live on FOX Sports Detroit.