American Football Rules IFAF Approved Ruling 3-2-4:I and II

I. When the ball is dead after a running play that ends out of bounds, the 40-second play clock is started. The umpire receives the ball from the line judge, and as he is placing it on the ground, he sees that it is not a legal game ball. He tosses the ball to the line judge who attempts to get a legal ball from the ball boy. RULING: If the play clock reads 20 seconds
or less before the correct ball is in from the sideline and ready for play, the referee declares a timeout and signals to reset the play clock to 25 seconds. When the correct ball is ready for play he signals to start the play clock and the game clock. [Cited by 3-2-4-b-3]
II. When the ball is dead after a running play that ends in the side zone, the officials have difficulty getting the ball in to the hash mark. As the play clock nears 20 seconds, the umpire