Q from 1st yr.: fair catch

[cdoug]

I had a situation in a JV game last night that I thought I called correctly until I thought about it on the way home. I probably was over-thinking things trying to make sure I had done things right, but wanted to check.

I was LJ (4 man) and was back with R on a punt. He signaled for a fair catch, muffed it and then recovered with knee(s) down so it was dead. I blew it down after he had his knee(s) down after the muff.

My thought on the way home was is it dead after he touches it (thinking about it today I'm thinking no, but wasn't sure while in my car)?

And taking it a step further, if he didn't have his knees down and recovered the muff he still could not advance it, even if he wanted to, correct?