re: Why don't players backwards lateral the ball out of bounds to stop the clock?

LINK

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A team is not permitted to conserve time inside of one minute of either half by committing any of these acts:
- a foul by either team that prevents the snap (i.e., false start, encroachment, etc.)
- intentional grounding
- an illegal forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage
- throwing a backward pass out of bounds
- spiking or throwing the ball in the field of play after a down has ended, except after a touchdown
- any other intentional foul that causes the clock to stop.

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This is for the NFL, but I'd imagine college football has similar if not the same rule(s).

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i have gone to a higher source. I texted a college football official to ask him the question. Will report back once I hear from him.

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Me: Question, Is it legal to lateral the ball out of bounds to purposely stop the clock?

Him: High school or college?

Me: College

Him: No

He then pointed me to the rule book. See below,Sections 3-4-3 and 3-4-4 clearly cover this.

Unfair Clock Tactics
3-4-3
2014 A.R.
The referee shall order the game clock or play clock started or stopped whenever either team conserves or consumes playing time by tactics obviously unfair. This includes starting the game clock on the snap if the foul is by the team ahead in the score. The game clock will start on the ready-for-play signal after team a throws an illegal forward or backward pass to conserve time (Rule 3-3-2-e-14) (A.R. 3-4-3-I-V).

10-Second Subtraction from Game Clock
3-4-4-a
2014 Info
With the game clock running and less than one minute remaining in either half, before a change of team possession if a player of either team commits a foul that causes the clock to stop, the officials may subtract 10 seconds from the game clock at the option of the offended team. The fouls that fall in this category include but are not limited to:

Any foul that prevents the snap (e.g., false start, encroachment, defensive offside by contact in the neutral zone, etc.) (A.R. 3-3-4-IV);
Intentional grounding to stop the clock;
Incomplete illegal forward pass;
Backward pass thrown out of bounds to stop the clock;
Any other foul committed with the intent of stopping the clock.
The offended team may accept the yardage penalty and decline the 10-second subtraction. If the yardage penalty is declined the 10-second subtraction is declined by rule.

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Not true.

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True.

Why isn't spiking the ball intentional grounding?

You still only lose ten seconds and the clock starts on the ready to play.

For the NFL, that's worth it.

College you could probably clock it in under 10 seconds since the clock stops after the first down.

But if you have someone in the vicinity like intentional grounding, you could still get away with it.

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have gone to a higher source. I texted a college football official to ask him the question. Will report back once I hear from him.

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Can you ask him to define a catch next?