Welcome to Ask the Official, a weekly blog series from USA Football. We’ve teamed up with Bill LeMonnier, USA Football rules editor, who’s served as a college football referee and also works with ESPN as a rules analyst. Look for LeMonnier’s blog every week during football season, as we take reader-submitted questions or revisit a controversial play that took place the previous weekend. See below for information on how to submit your questions. Here’s this week’s topic:

Q: Team A has the ball first-and-goal at Team B's 5-yard line. Team B intercepts Team A's pass in the end zone. The player who intercepted the pass starts running toward the opposite side of the field, still in his own team's end zone. A teammate is flagged for  an illegal block in the back. The player who intercepted the pass is then downed while still in the end zone. He never brought the ball out of the end zone. Is this a touchback, with the penalty enforced from the 20-yard line, or a safety? 

A: In this situation, since the penalty occurred in the end zone, it is a safety. When the intercepting player is downed in the end zone, penalty or no penalty, this is a touchback, and Team B gets the ball at its own 20-yard line. You enforce the penalty from the spot of the foul if the penalty occurs behind the 20-yard line. 

USA Football Rules Editor Bill LeMonnier is a former college referee who currently serves as an ESPN NCAA rules analyst. Click here to ask Bill a question. Make sure to put “Ask the Official” in the subject line.