Kickoff Question: Intentional Kick OOB?

Submitted by Paps on

This is a little break from all of the doom-and-gloom posts, and it may be a completly obvious answer, but here goes:

Twice UCONN got 15 yard penalties tacked on to scores (one was excessive celebration, the other was sideline interference i believe), and had to kickoff 15 yards back.  The first time Norfleet ran it back to about the Michigan 45, and I was wondering, the second time they kicked it, why doesn't UCONN just intentionally kick it out of bounds, and have Michigan take over at the 35.  I feel like in that situation, putting the other team at the 35 would be better than risking a return, which, at its worst, will probably end up around the 35 (norfleet's second one went to the 37 or something like that).  I voiced this question aloud to the friends and family we had over for the day, and nobody could find any reason why a team wouldn't want to do this.  Is there a rules issue I don't know, or is this something teams actually do? Thanks, and GoBlue! 

***EDIT: Apparently there is a "30 yards from the spot that the ball is kicked off" rule that I did not know about.  Kinda screws up my question haha.  Thanks everyone

gwkrlghl

September 22nd, 2013 at 5:08 PM ^

I always thought it was placed at the 35 minimum, and wherever it goes OOB if somehow you kick out it before that. It's just so rare to see someone actually doink it out before the 35 that I don't think most of us have ever seen it

Alton

September 22nd, 2013 at 7:39 PM ^

The ball would be placed at the 50, because the penalty is that the ball is placed 30 yards from the kickoff spot.

Actually, the receiving team has 3 choices:  (1) make the kicking team kick off again, after a 5-yard penalty, (2) take the ball 5 yards up from the spot the ball goes out of bounds, or (3) take the ball 30 yards from the spot where the ball was kicked.

HartAttack20

September 22nd, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^

I'm guessing the rule doesn't change when there's a penalty? If they don't move the out of bounds spotting up with the penalty yardage, then I'd say it's not done simply because it's a rare situation the coaches don't put much thought into.

Schmoe

September 22nd, 2013 at 5:12 PM ^

The penalty is assessed so many yards from the kickoff point.  So the starting point reflects the penalty yards.  This is to avoid both the kickoff going out of bounds intentionally and families discussing it.

Monocle Smile

September 22nd, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^

Because kicking intentionally out of bounds is hard. You can't just boot it straight sideways; the opponent only gets it at the 35 if the ball makes it past that line. Otherwise they get it where the ball goes out.

ChopBlock

September 22nd, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^

How about at the end of a game? There's a well-known rule that the game can't end on a defensive penalty, but as far as I can tell the kicking team isn't really considered the "defense". After all, it wouldn't make sense that they could onside kick it if they were the defense. 

Alton

September 22nd, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^

That's a well-known rule (because TV announcers often say it), but like "the ground can't cause a fumble," it's not actually a rule--it's a half-truth.

The actual rule is that the half can't end on a penalty by either team, unless the penalty is declined.  So if the offense commits a penalty to end the half, the half is extended...unless the defense declines the penalty, which obviously it would do in almost all cases.  Same thing with a kick out of bounds--even if time ticked off the clock (which it doesn't), the half wouldn't end because the receiving team would almost certainly accept the penalty.

Alton

September 22nd, 2013 at 10:25 PM ^

Rule 2-16-6:

"A kickoff is a free kick that starts each half and follows each try or field goal (Exception:  in extra periods).  It must be a place kick or a drop kick.

So a kickoff (at the beginning of a half or after a touchdown) may not be a punt, but may be a place kick or a drop kick.  A free kick after a safety may be any of those--a punt, place kick or a drop kick.

4godkingandwol…

September 22nd, 2013 at 8:36 PM ^

... I had another question.  During the fumble return for a touchdown, Uconn got a sideline interference penalty.  The ref said, "During the play..." Since it happened during the play, shouldn't it be assessed on that play and not on the subsequent kickoff?  It really had no impact on the return, so the "right" thing happened, but I was surprised that they can assess a penalty that occured while a play was active on the kickoff, when the offending team was the one that benefited from it. 

Alton

September 22nd, 2013 at 10:39 PM ^

Rule 9-2-1 states the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct:

"Live-ball fouls by players:  15 yards.  Live-ball fouls by non-players:  15 yards from succeeding spot."

So it's enforced from the spot of the foul if a player commits unsportsmanlike conduct, but it's enforced after the touchdown if it's committed by a coach or other team personnel.  I assume that this is because you sometimes can't really identify a "spot" for the foul when it's committed by the bench.