Punt, fair catch, return, late hit
 

Saw this play over the weekend at an NCAA game and was wondering if they got the enforcement correct.

Team A punts, B1 signals fair catch but drops the ball. B1 then recovers the ball and proceeds to run with the ball. After he runs out of bounds he is hit late by A2.

The referees call a delay of game (5 yards) on B1 for returning a ball after he signaled for the fair catch. They also called a personal foul for the late hit (15 yards) on A2. Both penalties were enforced so the net difference was 10 yards. Did they get this one correct? Should the referees have blown the play dead once B1 recovered the ball?

Yes, it was correct.

Yes, they should have (and probably did) kill it when B recovered the kick.

The referees did not kill the play when B recovered the kick. I think the A coach was trying to argue that if they did kill the play the late hit would have never occurred. Should they still enforce the late hit penalty by A2?

I found a link to the video. The play starts at 2:59:45
edit: bad link, updated link below

Yes, the whistle does not make the ball dead.

The link offers access to the video for a fee.

Sorry about the bad video link. Here is the video on YouTube. The officials end up calling that the ball was recovered at the 10 yard line and due to the penalties it ends up getting spotted at the 20 yard line.

Football fair catch and return - YouTube

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_6eRO-fjJSo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So the coach is saying that because his player was unaware the ball was dead because of the recovery after the fair catch -- which is very plausible -- that that should exonerate him from hitting out of bounds?!

Probably arguing the hit wouldn't have happened at all had the officials killed the play immediately.

Even if he's right, it still needs to be penalized.

Yes, I believe that is what the coach was arguing. But thank you, this should still be penalized, got it.

As a followup question, should the time that elapsed while the returner was running with the ball after he called fair catch be put back on the clock if the officials know this time?

I'm sure the hit wouldn't've happened if the receiver had never recovered the ball either, but what you gonna do, penalize him for causing the late hit? :rolleyes: