Total bullshit: NCAA touchbacks moved to 25, kickoffs to 35

[DSpydr84]

Take it for what it's worth, but Terrell Davis wouldn't have a career if he didn't make a great special teams tackle in a pre-season game.

It makes you wonder how many great players will not be given an opportunity because there are less plays to make an impact.

[JeremyHight]

Um, no it doesn't. The incentive would then be on the kicking team not to kick it in the end zone, because they are sacrificing five extra yards if they do.

Logic fail.

Kicking from the 35 would make it easier for the kicking team to get a touchback. Knowing that you get the ball at the 25 makes it easier for the receiving team to take a knee in the endzone and accept the touchback. Both sides are therefore going to be more prone to taking a touchback. Wasn't a logic fail at all.

[NAHSTE]

Kicking from the 35 would make it easier for the kicking team to get a touchback. Knowing that you get the ball at the 25 makes it easier for the receiving team to take a knee in the endzone and accept the touchback. Both sides are therefore going to be more prone to taking a touchback. Wasn't a logic fail at all.

The flip side is that the kicking team will be less likely to try to get a touchback, because the "reward" is lower. The risk-reward of giving up a return and pinning the returning team inside their own 15 or 20 has now been shifted. Many college teams already avoid touchbacks, instead kicking it high and towards the sideline, gambling that they can net 3-4 extra yards of field position by making a good tackle. This practice is not going to decrease as the difference between a touchback and a non-touchback becomes more pronounced.

[Hasselbeck]

Every college kicker isn't NFL quality.. hell only a handful of kickers even turn pro.

There will still be plenty of kicks that are returned.

[nwfisch]

Next on the dockett...NCAA banning the Zone Blitz.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

The panel also approved a rule that will require a player who loses his helmet during a play to leave the game for one play, and there are also new guidelines regarding blocking below the waist and blocking on punt returns. Players will also be prohibited from leaping over blockers when trying to block punts.

WTF ? As many players who refuse to wear proper size and strapped helmets substitutions are going to be insane at times.

What does leaping over someone for a punt block have to do with anything ? Was someone maimed last season ?

[Senser81]

Um, no it doesn't. The incentive would then be on the kicking team not to kick it in the end zone, because they are sacrificing five extra yards if they do.

Logic fail.

I never understood why NFL teams didn't follow this logic. Instead of kicking the ball out of the endzone, they should have their kickers kick the ball super high and land near the 5-yard line, forcing a short return which would hopefully result in 1) the ball being returned short of the 20, 2) a block in the back penalty, 3) a fumble.

On a side note, I don't think this will really affect the return team. You are either going to take a touchback or you're not. If you are a good returner, you are probably going to run the ball out of the endzone. If you are a bad returner, or if the kick had good hang time, you are going to take the knee. No one (except JeremyHight) would be doing the math/geometry in their heads after catching the ball in the endzone and calculating in the extra 5 yards.

These are "student-athletes" we are talking about here, not physicists.

[Senser81]

Eventually they are going to get rid of kickoffs.

Eventually they are going to get rid of college football.

[ZoneBlitz]

On a side note, I don't think this will really affect the return team. You are either going to take a touchback or you're not. If you are a good returner, you are probably going to run the ball out of the endzone. If you are a bad returner, or if the kick had good hang time, you are going to take the knee. No one (except JeremyHight) would be doing the math/geometry in their heads after catching the ball in the endzone and calculating in the extra 5 yards.

These are "student-athletes" we are talking about here, not physicists.

Returners will be instructed by their coaches to take more touchbacks.

[Senser81]

Returners will be instructed by their coaches to take more touchbacks.

Brilliant analysis. Is that an exact quote from ESPN Insider?

Will running backs be instructed by their coaches to "score more touchdowns" and safeties instructed to "intercept more passes"?

[ZoneBlitz]

Brilliant analysis. Is that an exact quote from ESPN Insider?

Will running backs be instructed by their coaches to "score more touchdowns" and safeties instructed to "intercept more passes"?

Its not brilliant analysis, its common sense, which apparantly you seem to be lacking.

It doesnt take any skill to take more touchbacks, as it does to score TDs and get INTs.

[Senser81]

Its not brilliant analysis, its common sense, which apparantly you seem to be lacking.

It doesnt take any skill to take more touchbacks, as it does to score TDs and get INTs.

You can't really decide to "take touchbacks". The kicker has to kick the ball into the endzone to begin with. Its not like a returner can catch the ball at the 5, run backwards into the endzone, then take a touchback to get the ball on the 25. So you can't merely tell a guy to "take more touchbacks".

And my point remains...the added 5 yards on the touchback isn't really going to affect strategy. Good returners are going to run the ball out, bad returners aren't.

You seem to think this rule change is drastically going to affect play/strategy. Its not.

[nwfisch]

I don't get it.

Safety=pussification?

I can't imagine the outcry if they ever ban the Zone Blitz in the NCAA.

[ZoneBlitz]

You can't really decide to "take touchbacks". The kicker has to kick the ball into the endzone to begin with. Its not like a returner can catch the ball at the 5, run backwards into the endzone, then take a touchback to get the ball on the 25. So you can't merely tell a guy to "take more touchbacks".

Nice troll tactics after your comparison was proven to be incredibly stupid.

When the returner catches the ball in the endzone, it takes zero skill for him to kneel it down.

A coach can tell his player that when he catches the ball in the endzone, he should kneel it down more often.

And my point remains...the added 5 yards on the touchback isn't really going to affect strategy. Good returners are going to run the ball out, bad returners aren't.

You seem to think this rule change is drastically going to affect play/strategy. Its not.

Touchbacks will increase, just like they did in the NFL.

[FirstTimer]

If you are the kicking team, why in the hell would you willingly want to give up five more yards of field position? Now that your coverage team has five less yards to cover to get to the ball carrier, it would seem just a tad bit wiser to give a kick some more hangtime and try to land the ball inside the 20 and stuff the return

**Stolen from an ND blog.