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I'm Going To Ask A Really Uneducated (maybe dumb) Question..

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4everlost

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I notice that when any team kicks off the ball almost always goes to, or over the head, of the opponent standing near their own goal line. I looked at the NCAA rules (which is a **** hole of a place) and cannot find an answer to this question. Must we always kick towards the opposing team player? Why can't we kick to the side of the end zone where he ain't?
 
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Maddog71 said:
I notice that when any team kicks off the ball almost always goes to, or over the head, of the opponent standing near their own goal line. I looked at the NCAA rules (which is a **** hole of a place) and cannot find an answer to this question. Must we always kick towards the opposing team player? Why can't we kick to the side of the end zone where he ain't?
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You could probably answer your own question if you put some thought into it.
 
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Maddog71 said:
I notice that when any team kicks off the ball almost always goes to, or over the head, of the opponent standing near their own goal line. I looked at the NCAA rules (which is a **** hole of a place) and cannot find an answer to this question. Must we always kick towards the opposing team player? Why can't we kick to the side of the end zone where he ain't?
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Usually because the opposing team's returner moves under the ball to return it. It's not like he can't move while the ball is in the air. The ball is usually kicked between the hashmarks to not risk it going out of bounds.
 
OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
You could probably answer your own question if you put some thought into it.
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lol

I mean there's the rule that the kick returner has to stay completely stationary and if he returns the kick it's because the kicker managed to kick it right to him. It's true amazing the accuracy of college kickers, and **** polite of them to honor the rule where they have to stand in the same spot until they catch the ball.
 
ThomasM said:
I say we have our kicker just line drive it at the nearest player. Sorta like football meets dodge ball.
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There's certain analytics saying that is the best option for every kickoff. The percentage of onside kicks that get recovered by the kicking team outweighs the negative field position aspect. Kind of like how teams should always go for it on fourth and three or less. Nobody wants to be that guy who actually tries it and looks ridiculous though.
 
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To add, there’s normally 2 returners spread across the end zone and whichever side the ball is traveling to, that returner tracks it in the air to catch it. Think back yard 2hard touch kickoffs...you can throw it anywhere but the returner is just going to follow your trajectory and catch it
 
DTP said:
There's certain analytics saying that is the best option for every kickoff. The percentage of onside kicks that get recovered by the kicking team outweighs the negative field position aspect. Kind of like how teams should always go for it on fourth and three or less. Nobody wants to be that guy who actually tries it and looks ridiculous though.
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I swear sometimes I feel like this board is like trying to explain football to my girlfriend.
 
DTP said:
There's certain analytics saying that is the best option for every kickoff. The percentage of onside kicks that get recovered by the kicking team outweighs the negative field position aspect. Kind of like how teams should always go for it on fourth and three or less. Nobody wants to be that guy who actually tries it and looks ridiculous though.
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Everybody will do it to us after Harleys attempt Saturday night :LOL:
 
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DTP said:
There's certain analytics saying that is the best option for every kickoff. The percentage of onside kicks that get recovered by the kicking team outweighs the negative field position aspect. Kind of like how teams should always go for it on fourth and three or less. Nobody wants to be that guy who actually tries it and looks ridiculous though.
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Well, the guy getting hit by the ball has little chance of recovering it, that's for sure.

Remember the play against FSU several years back where our kicker shanked the kickoff but we recovered it 25-30 yards down the field? I think that is the deadest part of the field on a kickoff. 20 yards, near the sideline. You catch a team napping and it's like a forward pass to a wide open player. Not sure why it isn't tried from time to time. No one would see it coming, literally. With the kicker we have, it would work. With Baxa... maybe not worth the try.

"Bubba Baxa lines up for the kickoff... he kicks it! Wait, did he just take out a cheerleader, Bob?"
"Well Jim, it's the ONLY way he'd ever take out a cheerleader, if you know what I mean."
 
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You can't kick the ball out of bounds or under 10 yards. Otherwise yes, we can kick it wherever we want.

If you want to kick it in to a corner, the ball has to travel a lot farther because of the angle. And if it goes out of bounds, that's actually a pretty bad penalty from a field position standpoint.
 
DTP said:
There's certain analytics saying that is the best option for every kickoff. The percentage of onside kicks that get recovered by the kicking team outweighs the negative field position aspect. Kind of like how teams should always go for it on fourth and three or less. Nobody wants to be that guy who actually tries it and looks ridiculous though.
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Can't always trust analytics. If you onside kick it every time, teams will adjust for that and their recovery % will go up.
 
Trav said:
I swear sometimes I feel like this board is like trying to explain football to my girlfriend.
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Good lord, it’s hard to believe this shlt even has to be explained to people.

It’s like people have never been on a football field or thrown a football, or run a few yards, or even tried to kick a football in their entire lives
 
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