# Who gets what stats in a hook and lateral play?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 9, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773 "2008-09-09T13:44:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![survineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@survineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survineer)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773/1 "2008-09-09T13:44:20Z")

</div>

Say the line of scrimmage is the 50 yard line. QB throws to the TE who catches at the 40 and runs to the 20. At the 20 yard line the TE laterals back to the WR. The WR catches the lateral at the 30 and runs for the touchdown.

What does the QB get credited for?  
What does the TE get credited for?  
What does the WR get credited for?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773/2 "2008-09-09T13:58:42Z")

</div>

Against my better judgement, I’m going to answer this without looking it up.

The QB gets credited with a 50-yard TD pass  
The TE gets credited with a 30-yard reception  
The WR gets credited with a 20-yard TD reception

The key is that the TE’s and WR’s receiving yards equal the QBs passing yardage for the play. The fact that the TE flipped the ball back ten yards doesn’t get the WR an extra ten receiving yards.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773/3 "2008-09-09T14:23:18Z")

</div>

The correct answer:

QB, one pass, one completion, 50 yards and a passing touchdown  
TE, one reception, 20 yards  
WR, no reception, 30 receiving yards, receiving TD, six points

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773/4 "2008-09-09T14:31:21Z")

</div>

> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#):
>
> The correct answer:
> 
> QB, one pass, one completion, 50 yards and a passing touchdown  
> TE, one reception, 20 yards  
> WR, **no reception** , 30 receiving yards, receiving TD, six points

Good catch 😃

What I wrote would have meant that the combined receptions of the receivers would have exceeded the QB’s number of completions.

That’s what I get for shooting from the hip :o

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-what-stats-in-a-hook-and-lateral-play/462773/5 "2008-09-09T15:06:32Z")

</div>

I, for one, wish this was a more common occurance on the [del]pitch[/del] gridiron.  
P.S. Love the user name!