Explain new kick rule

[gridiron]

My brother says there is a new kick rule in college that lets teams kick the ball backwards, I told him I want what he is smoking, he swears it is true. Can someone explain what he is talking about?

[helmut]

My brother says there is a new kick rule in college that lets teams kick the ball backwards, I told him I want what he is smoking, he swears it is true. Can someone explain what he is talking about?

Big discussion about that today on Birds Eye View.

First the discussion came about with the new rule that the game clock starts when the kicker kicks the ball NOT when it is caught. The pretense is that if there are only a few seconds left in the game then the kicker can kick the ball backwards so that the kicking team can recover and kill the clock. THIS IS NOT AN ONSIDE KICK BECAUSE AN ONSIDE KICK IS WHEN THE BALL MOVES FORWARD. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE RULE BOOK TO SAY YOU CAN'T KICK THE BALL BACKWARDS. The kicker is NOT OFFSIDES because his plant foot is ALWAYS AHEAD OF THE BALL IN ALL KICKING SITUATIONS. The kicker CANNOT run ahead of the ball and kick it backwards. There is nothing to say he can't stand by the ball and kick it with his heel to the rear. Since this is not an onside kick THE KICK DOES NOT HAVE TO ADVANCE TEN YARDS DOWN THE FIELD and as such is not a penalty. Kicking the ball out of bounds is a penalty and the game cannot end on a penalty.

It would take only one time for this play to backfire and I guarantee it will never be done again. Again this would only happen with only a very few seconds to go in the game.

The clock starting at the kick and when the ball is marked and ready for play is the major rule change in college football this year. This is an accomodation to TV so that the games don't last as long as they have been. The only other rule change this year is minor in that the kicking tee has been lowered to one inch.

[1stTake]

My brother says there is a new kick rule in college that lets teams kick the ball backwards, I told him I want what he is smoking, he swears it is true. Can someone explain what he is talking about?

Your brother is a goofball, there is no new kick rule. All that changed is the clock starts when the ball is kicked. Jay Walker says an official says a backwards kicks now serves a purpose when there are eight seconds left in the game and you are ahead. Makes sense, Jay Walker said the kicking team can huddle around the ball and stop the other team from getting to the ball and time will expire. Great Scott said this is not an onsides kick so those rules do not count. Turbine called in and caused a ruckus with some weird excuse for the play being treated like it was going out of bounds and time expiring. Jay said time has expired and he had to go to commercial so turbine accused Jay Walker of hanging up on him but when Jay came back it was time for the news. I can't wait to see a team try this.

[BirdofParadise]

Your brother is a goofball, there is no new kick rule. All that changed is the clock starts when the ball is kicked. Jay Walker says an official says a backwards kicks now serves a purpose when there are eight seconds left in the game and you are ahead. Makes sense, Jay Walker said the kicking team can huddle around the ball and stop the other team from getting to the ball and time will expire. Great Scott said this is not an onsides kick so those rules do not count. Turbine called in and caused a ruckus with some weird excuse for the play being treated like it was going out of bounds and time expiring. Jay said time has expired and he had to go to commercial so turbine accused Jay Walker of hanging up on him but when Jay came back it was time for the news. I can't wait to see a team try this.

Gee, make a statement and get two hours of controversy

Yesterday we were talking about the new clock rule which states that the clock will start when the ball is kicked on a kickoff as opposed to when it was touched. My comment was that with five seconds or so remaining, you could kick the ball out of the end zone and time would run out.

Then during the commercial break, Dan McDonald called me and said he was talking with a college official and posed the question as to "what if the ball was kicked backwards" and the kicking team surrounded the ball while time ran out.

He was told it would be a legal play. The clock would start when the ball was kicked. Now, the kicking team, if they downed the ball, would not get possession, of course. The ball would be dead when it was covered and technically, the receiving team would have possession (but of course the object is for the clock to run out before that happens.)

Of course, everyone tried to come up with reasons why it would be illegal.

It doesn't fit the definition of an onside kick, therefore the ten yard rule doesn't apply.

Kickers frequently cross the line with one foot before kicking off, therefore the offside rule doesn't apply. (In a different instance, the holder on an extra point has his knee down, but the play isn't blown dead when he catches the ball, it is legal).

Now, I can't imagine anyone trying this in a game. But I guess stranger things have happened.

[gridiron]

The clock starting at the kick and when the ball is marked and ready for play is the major rule change in college football this year. This is an accomodation to TV so that the games don't last as long as they have been. The only other rule change this year is minor in that the kicking tee has been lowered to one inch.

Wait a minute, this sounds like a conflict of another rule I heard a week ago. If the clock starts on the kick it conflicts with a rule that says the clock starts when the ref places the ball down. I forget does the clock stop running when the return man is tackled? It has to for this to work. I don't like this or any rule where the defense controls the clock.

[BirdofParadise]

Wait a minute, this sounds like a conflict of another rule I heard a week ago. If the clock starts on the kick it conflicts with a rule that says the clock starts when the ref places the ball down. I forget does the clock stop running when the return man is tackled? It has to for this to work. I don't like this or any rule where the defense controls the clock.

Two separate rules:

On a kickoff, the clock starts when the ball is kicked. It stops when the player is tackled or goes out of bounds or if the kick results in a touchback.

Once the play is over and the two teams get on the field, the referee will mark the ball ready for play and the clock will start again.

Both rules are new this year.

[Bert]

THIS IS NOT AN ONSIDE KICK BECAUSE AN ONSIDE KICK IS WHEN THE BALL MOVES FORWARD. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE RULE BOOK TO SAY YOU CAN'T KICK THE BALL BACKWARDS.

I agree an onside kick is moving forward but this has to be unfair clock manipulation, that is what I would have called. Unfair game time time tactic was the term.

[mcm0254]

Big discussion about that today on Birds Eye View.

First the discussion came about with the new rule that the game clock starts when the kicker kicks the ball NOT when it is caught. The pretense is that if there are only a few seconds left in the game then the kicker can kick the ball backwards so that the kicking team can recover and kill the clock. THIS IS NOT AN ONSIDE KICK BECAUSE AN ONSIDE KICK IS WHEN THE BALL MOVES FORWARD. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE RULE BOOK TO SAY YOU CAN'T KICK THE BALL BACKWARDS. The kicker is NOT OFFSIDES because his plant foot is ALWAYS AHEAD OF THE BALL IN ALL KICKING SITUATIONS. The kicker CANNOT run ahead of the ball and kick it backwards. There is nothing to say he can't stand by the ball and kick it with his heel to the rear. Since this is not an onside kick THE KICK DOES NOT HAVE TO ADVANCE TEN YARDS DOWN THE FIELD and as such is not a penalty. Kicking the ball out of bounds is a penalty and the game cannot end on a penalty.

It would take only one time for this play to backfire and I guarantee it will never be done again. Again this would only happen with only a very few seconds to go in the game.

The clock starting at the kick and when the ball is marked and ready for play is the major rule change in college football this year. This is an accomodation to TV so that the games don't last as long as they have been. The only other rule change this year is minor in that the kicking tee has been lowered to one inch.

I kicked the ball backwards in high school. It wasn't good.

[helmut]

I kicked the ball backwards in high school. It wasn't good.

LOL!! I would certainly think it wasn't good especially if it was unplaned. That is why I don't think any coach would try it. That is, any coach that wanted to keep his job.

[Jason]

I kicked the ball backwards in high school. It wasn't good.

Aaron Brooks is good at throwing the ball backwards. Does he have any college eligibility left??

[Turbine]

When this subject came up on the radio I had no idea formed on the subject. My interest was peaked however so I asked Jay if he could get on the internet and find the definition of an onsides kick. The hour was over, enough said.

I have been researching this for the last few days; I do not think we will EVER see a backwards kick. I have also come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an onsides kick. It may be a term in the NFL but not the NCAA, it is not found in the rule book. What we know as the onside kick is nothing more than the name of a play that squeezes the limits of the term “free kick.”

A “free kick” is defined by the kicking team’s restraining line and the receiving team’s restraining line 10 yards down field. The kicking team cannot touch the ball till it crosses the plane of the receiving teams restraining line.

There are exceptions but the main rules shows that until the ball has crossed the receiving teams restraining line it is illegal for the kicking team to even block access to the ball. The only reason you see the kicking team block receiving players from access to the free ball –before it crosses the restraining line- is because they would rather get a “illegal blocking” penalty than allow the receiving team access to their free kick.

The very term free kick has to do with one team getting the ball for free. A backwards kick goes against this rule that says” A ball from a free kick formation must be kicked legally”

There was talk about the kicking team huddling to prevent access to the ball. Until the ball goes beyond the opponents restraining line this would be considered blocking.

Here is the real reason you will never see a backwards kick. “If a free kick comes to rest inbounds and no player attempts to secure it, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the receiving team at the dead-ball spot.”

If I was able to prepare a team for this sort of play and it actually happened in a game (opponent kicked the ball backwards) I would have my players turn and face the other way. Since the kicking team can’t touch the ball and my team made no attempt to secure it, the ball is dead. We take over on downs kick a field goal and win.

source material