cfldb

STATISTICAL SCORING RULES

SECTION 1 — FIRST DOWNS

A first down shall be recorded whenever the yardsticks are ordered forward by the officials on a sequence of downs, whenever a touchdown is scored on an offensive play from scrimmage, and whenever a gain from scrimmage is made on the last play in a half that would have resulted in a first down being awarded had time not run out. However a first down shall not be awarded when a team first gains possession as a result of a kick, a fumble, a pass interception or a penalty.

First downs gained are subdivided to show the type of play responsible for the gain, as follows:

1. By Rushing — means that the play that resulted in a new first down being awarded was a rushing play, even though a different type of play may have accounted for most of the yardage in that series of downs.
2. By Passing — means that the play that resulted in a new first down being awarded was a passing play, even though a different type of play may have accounted for most of the yardage in that series of downs.
3. By Penalty — means that the yardsticks were ordered forward as a result of the application of penalty.