Yes they can, although that is almost impossible.
Yes it would be a touchdown. If the kicking team recovers it and is downed in the endzone or the ball goes out of bounds in the endzone the defensive team will get a safety and receive the ball via free kick.
· middle linebacker · motion · muffed punt
Darryl Johnston
Yes the punt receiver can recover a muffed kick (fumbled kick) after signalling for a fair catch. He just can not run with the ball once it is picked up.
The team receiving starts out at 20 yard line
A safety occurs when a team which had possesion of the football outside its endzone during a play is tacked in its own endzone. If a punt or kickoff is touched outside the endzone, rolls into the endzone and then downed by the receiving team in the endzone there is no safety, because the ball was not posessed outside the endzone. The rule is often misunderstood - in an NFL regular season game in the '90s, the Giants were awarded a safety when the ball was touched outside the endzone by the receiving team and then downed by the receiving team after the ball rolled into the endzone. The next day the NFL announced that there was no safety. The college rule is the same - possession outside the endzone, and not a mere touching is, is necessary in order for there to be a safety
Its ends up as a touchback and is given to the receiving team (of the punt) to start at the 20-yard line.
· middle linebacker · motion · muffed punt · Miami Dolphins (NFL) · Minnesota Vikings (NFL) · Montreal Alouettes (Canadian Football League)
No. The kicking team is penalized if a kickoff goes out of bounds, but on a punt, the ball is put in play for the receiving team at the point where it goes out of bounds.
Neither, their first drive result in a safety after Brady grounded the ball in the Endzone because of pressure from Tuck.
The offense can punt the ball at any time (on any down not just 4th) from behind the line of scrimmage. Once they punt the ball the other team must touch it before they can touch it again. If the punting team touches the punt first it is downed at that very spot and given to the other team. If a punt goes out of bounds it is given to the other team where it went out and if it goes untouched into the endzone it is put on the 20yd line and the other team takes over. Anyone not just a player listed as a punter can punt the ball. In high school football it is common to line up in a shot-gun formation on 4th down and then have the quarter back quick punt the ball. This sometimes tricks the defense into thinking the offense is attempting to get a 1st down and they may not have someone back to run back the punt. It can also be used just in case the defense does line up in a normal punt return formation and then the quarter back makes a quick choice after taking the snap as to whether he will go for the first down or kick the ball away.