New Fair Catch Rule A Fair Deal For Mountaineers?

The NCAA's ongoing effort to lessen the severity of contact resulted in the latest of rule changes when it was announced last week that teams would now be able to fair catch kickoffs inside the 25-yard-line and have it result in a touchback.

The ball would be placed at the 25, and the offensive possession taken from that point. The change - assuming past performances give somewhat of an indication into future results - certainly aids teams like Baylor, Oklahoma State and Pitt, all of which ranked 108th or worse in kickoff return yardage last year.

By the same token, it presumably hurts Kansas State, TCU and, arguably, West Virginia. The three all ranked in the top 45 nationally in kickoff return defense, allowing less than 19.65 yards per return. Bill Snyder's always steady Wildcats were second in the nation at 16.58 yards (just behind Michigan's 15-yard average), while TCU was 28th (18.96) and WVU 43rd (19.64).

It's worth noting Evan Staley averaged 58.9 yards on 77 kickoffs last season, with 27 touchbacks and three kicked out of bounds. Factoring the 58.9-yard average from the 35-yard-line puts the ball, before the return, at the 6.1-yard-line. The 19.64 yards per return for foes a season ago put the possession at the 25 and 3/4 yard line.

That's essentially a statistical nonfactor of less than one yard in comparing it to the touchback field position. But with an increase in Staley's experience and strength that comes with entering the redshirt sophomore year, and the idea that he would be better able to place kicks, the point made by Alabama's Nick Saban is legit. Often seen as the de facto coaching voice in certain segments of college football, Saban criticized the new rule, correctly dialing in on the aspect that the change takes portions of strategy out of play.

"I’ve been around long enough where we used to kick off from the 40-yard line. There were too many touchbacks, so we moved it back to the 35,” Saban said. “For us old timers, I thought it would be an easier solution to just move it back up to the 40-yard line because you would get more touchbacks.

"But you could still sky kick. (Now) you sky kick trying to give somebody bad field position, they fair catch the ball on the 15-yard line and get the ball on the 25. That takes some of the strategy out of the game. You would have gotten the same result if you had just moved it up five yards because almost everybody in college football would have kicked nothing but touchbacks. You still would have had all the strategies you could have used in other circumstances.”

That's truly the biggest issue. Remember, before the 2012 season kickoffs were moved from the 30- to the 35-yard-line and touchbacks started possessions on the 25-yard line rather than the 20.

The yardage differences created by the current rule change likely won't be great for either West Virginia's coverage or return game (more on that below). But it does remove some strategic portions of play, and that's where Staley could potentially have made a situational difference in the coming season.

Then there's the flip side for the TCUs and West Virginia's of the world. The Horned Frogs were one of only eight teams to average more than 25 yards per return, while the Mountaineers ranked 16th nationally (and second in the Big 12) at 24.3 yards per bring back. Marcus Simms alone hit for a 26.3-yard average last year on 31 kick returns with a long of 80. That's an extra 1.3 yards per return off the touchback field positioning, and that's assuming all Simms' kicks were taken at the goal line, which they were not.

Yet the new rules shouldn't truly affect those return units (again, assuming the personnel changes don't drastically flip the stats), because the option will still be there to return any kick in the field of play.

It might change the psychological approach, however. If a player knows the 25 yards are a given, will said player stress and stretch his abilities to try to push past that point? The bet here is yes. Players have, for years, inexplicably taken kicks seven-plus yards deep in the end zone and brought them out. The odds of gaining a full one-quarter of the field, plus the seven more yards to simply get out of the end zone, are horrendous. Yet players still bet on themselves and their abilities to break kicks.

Call it youthful energy and enthusiasm, or brash confidence - often two sides of the young adult coin - but don't call it ignorance. The WVU coaching staff drills into the head the idea that the 25-yard-line is a solid starting spot, so if the ball is fielded in the end zone, the best bet is to take a knee and the yardage. But that's often not what happens.

That will be an interesting part of the mental game to watch in the early parts of the season, as will how teams try to handle the sky kicks. Might more schools shorten them significantly, trying to pressure the non-returners to handle a kick on the fly, knowing that there's far less yardage to be given up? Why not make the up men fair catch a kick at the 30, with added pressure and the hope for a muff while knowing that any fair catch inside the 25 will result in the ball being placed there anyway?

The other rule changes also served, as expected, to increase the safety of the game. The NCAA panel approved a "package of rules with the goal of making it easier for players, coaches and officials to understand, execute and coach blocking below the waist.

"The most noticeable change pertains to offensive blocks: The offense will not be allowed to block below the waist when the block occurs more than 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Additionally, other than the interior linemen, all blocks below the waist must be from the front."

There were also changes to the pacing of play. After a touchdown, the play clock will be set at 40 seconds to expedite the extra point or two-point conversion attempt. Additionally, following a kickoff, the play clock will be set to 40 seconds to restart play more quickly.

Other significant rules changes, as listed by the NCAA:

*The addition of a 10-second runoff was approved when instant replay overturns the ruling on the field inside of one minute in either half, and the correct ruling would not have stopped the game clock.

*The panel approved the continuation of an experimental collaborative decision-making model for instant replay that is not limited to the press box in the stadium. For example, officials involved in the replay process could be located in a conference office.

Leaping rules on field goals and extra points were adjusted to mirror similar rules regarding leaping the shield on punting plays. It is illegal to leap over the frame of the body of an opponent.

*On successful field goals, penalty enforcement will be the same as on made extra points. Namely, all personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct fouls by the defending team will have the option to be enforced on the ensuing kickoff.

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