TB or Safety?

[Cliffdweller]

K's punter muffs the snap, R1 attempts to recover ball and muffs it into the endzone where K recovers it, touchback or safety?

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by Cliffdweller

K's punter muffs the snap, R1 attempts to recover ball and muffs it into the endzone where K recovers it, touchback or safety?

Who is responsible for the ball being in the EZ? As you describe it, sounds like R, which results in a touchback.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Cliffdweller

K's punter muffs the snap, R1 attempts to recover ball and muffs it into the endzone where K recovers it, touchback or safety?

If you're using "recover" in the technical sense in Fed it makes a difference, because it means the ball has hit the ground. If it hadn't, R1's muffing the ball, even if it gave new force, would be immaterial.

In NCAA, it's very difficult for mere muffing to change the responsibility for the ball's being behind the goal line. The ball would've had to come to rest first.

So in NCAA, probably a safety, while in Fed probably a touchback, depending on unspecified details of what you saw.

[CT1]

Generally speaking, if the ball would have gone into the EZ without R's muff, it's a safety. Otherwise, it's a TB.

That's why we get the big bucks.