snap over punters head----safety?

[Altor]

Last year, I witnessed scenario a) in an NCAA D3 game. The referee threw the flag for the illegal kick, which on that play didn't matter because the end result was the same...safety.

The only reason I mention it is because I would think that if the defense were to be penalized during the down as well, the illegal kick would have created an offsetting penalty situation instead of yardage (and possibly a first down) for the kicking team.