An odd UFL rule results in a Louisville penalty awarding the game to Orlando
· Yahoo Sports
The United Football League is struggling to get much attention this spring, but an unusual ruling on the final play of Friday night's game has football fans talking.
The game was awarded to the Orlando Storm, 29-27 over the Louisville Knights, when Louisville committed a penalty on Orlando’s overtime two-point conversion attempt.
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In the NFL, a penalty on the defense on a two-point conversion attempt would result in the ball being moved half the distance to the goal line and another attempt being granted. But UFL overtime has different rules.
Orlando and Louisville were tied 27-27 at the end of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime. In UFL overtime, teams take turns trying two-point conversions to determine a winner. Neither team scored — but Louisville committed two defensive penalties, and under UFL rules, the second defensive penalty is considered a successful two-point conversion attempt. That gave Orlando the winning 29-27 score.
Dean Blandino, who both oversees the UFL officiating department and serves as an officiating analyst for Fox, said on the Fox broadcast that the rule was put in place to stop defenses from committing penalty after penalty to prevent an offense from ever scoring a two-point conversion.
"We wanted to make sure we had a winner and we got the game over with. we didn't want the team to continue to foul to prevent scores, so the second live ball foul by the same team during overtime results in the score being good," Blandino said.
Blandino said the rule is a fair way to make sure overtime doesn't go on too long.
"You think about player safety and extra snaps, we've already been playing for over three hours," Blandino said. "The second live ball foul during overtime by the same team results in a successful try."
It's a unique aspect of the UFL, a league that needs all the unique rules it can imagine to generate some buzz among fans.