What is the rule on a punt return? If the UT player touched it and it went out of the endzone, is it a touchback or a safety?
What made me believe it was touched is that he made a motion to go pick it up then stopped. May have been a "Just in case" but maybe because he'd touched it then decided to take his chances but it's hard to process all that in the heat of the moment so I thought it was cause he knew he'd touched it then panicked.
I wouldn't bet the house on it, but that's always been my understanding. Cause if you think about it, when the receiving team touches the ball, it's just like a fumble and is a live ball. If that's the case, it seems to me like it would be treated like a fumble if it went out the back of the endzone.
its a muff. unless he had possession in the field of play then fumbled it out the endzone its a touchback. He wasnt sure either but knew he touched it, hence the guilty look. the gutless non-decision of the refs to not overturn it has finally led me into believing instant-replay should just be abolished. It is almost NEVER used correctly and never will be. Be done with it already. There will never be competent enough people in place for it to work and the ones currently in place are completely ruining the game.
I'm pretty sure it would be LSU's ball at the 20 in that situation since there was no change of possession after the kick. WAFB had a different angle on the play from their own camera and it's obvious the guy touched the ball. I have to admit that the TV replays on Saturday didn't appear to be sufficient to overturn the call on the field. I was sure he touched it though because he backed off and put both hands in the air and he never saw the ball.
tirk's right - it's a touchback. It's just like 2 of the LSU kickoffs that UT touched in the field of play and then had the ball either touch the pylon or be downed in the endzone. The guy has to have control in the field of play and then go back into the endzone for a safety.
On the play in question, we recovered the ball in the endzone. That would have been a TD, right? I know you can't advance a muffed punt, but it's your ball where you recover it. This muff stuff always confuses me.:hihi:
