NCAA Misses Point; Rule Suits Kickers to a Tee

Concerned that field goals were increasing scoring at an alarming rate in college football, the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules makers decided to do something about it this year.

We’ll fix those soccer-style kickers, they said in essence. We’ll take their kicking tees away from them for field goals and extra points.

So the kickers were literally grounded.

However, in Division 1-A, the kickers are getting a big boot out of the new rule.

In 78 games played so far, field goal kickers have made 191 of 272 attempts, 70.2%. The NCAA record for a season is 68.2%, set in 1984.

“We’ve really made an impact by taking the tee away,” joked Davey Nelson of the NCAA.

Nelson is the secretary-rules editor of the NCAA Football Rules Committee, who pushed for the new kicking rule.

“I never figured (the success rate) would get better,” he said.

Jim Van Valkenburg, director of statistics for the NCAA, had other figures that showed that removing the kicking tee hasn’t affected the kickers’ accuracy, or production.

--Last week, including a Thursday night game, field goal kickers had a 73.2% accuracy rating. That’s the third-highest in NCAA history, behind 76% on Nov. 5, 1988 and 74.1% on Oct. 6, 1984.

--Fewer field goals have been attempted from 40 yards or farther, Van Valkenburg said. However, from the 40- to 49-yard range, accuracy is 61.6%, compared to a record 57.5% for the 1984 season.

--Moreover, from 50 yards or farther, the nation’s kickers have made 45% (nine of 20). The season record for such long-distance kicks is 37.3% set in 1984.

--Total scoring is at 45.2% compared to a record 47.5% last year. Field goal production has increased, even though overall scoring is down.

“So field goals are a bigger part of the game at the moment than they ever have been,” Van Valkenburg said.

He added, however, that the extra-point percentage is down, from 95.6% in 1988 to 94%.

“Davey Nelson once described the extra point as exciting as ice fishing and he doesn’t need to change his views there,” Van Valkenburg said.

The reason that kickers are so proficient has nothing to do with the tees, Van Valkenburg said.

“What Nelson is doing for the kickers is to prove how good they are,” he said. “That’s my interpretation. So far (rules makers) have failed miserably, but it’s early. (The kickers) haven’t run into any bad weather yet.”

In adopting the rules change, Nelson noted that scoring has increased from an average of 32 points a game in 1958 to 46.1 in 1987 because goal posts were widened from 18 feet 6 inches to 23-4 and unlimited substitutions allowed.

Earlier, Nelson had said the major factor in the increase had been the huge number of field goals.

Then he said, “Eliminating the tee should have an effect on the kicking game.”

Kickers, of course, benefit from kicking off artificial surfaces, though some, such as USC’s Quin Rodriguez, kick off grass for home games.

Rodriguez made two 37-yard field goals in USC’s 14-13 loss to Illinois Sept. 4 at the Coliseum.

Asked about the adjustment he had to make now that he doesn’t use a tee, Rodriguez said: “I’m glad that the rule happened. I have more control over the ball. When I was kicking off the tee I had more room for error.

“There are more sweet spots on the ball kicking from the tee. You relax more with the tee. But when you kick off the ground, you have to concentrate harder, following through and having your foot turned just right.

“I think the NCAA rule has backfired.”

The new rule certainly didn’t hinder Arizona’s Doug Pfaff, who tied a school record with four field goals against Stanford Sept. 2.

“A lot of people get psyched out by kicking off the ground, but not me,” he said.

Kickers are flourishing under the new rule, with the possible exception of Syracuse’s John Biskup. He was carrying a heavy burden in Saturday’s game against Temple.

Syracuse kickers had made a record 260 consecutive extra points since the last regular-season game of 1978.

Biskup made his first two against Temple, then blew the third one--and the record.

Kickers have become the leading scorers on most teams. In the Pacific 10 Conference, only one running back, USC’s Marcus Allen, has led the league in scoring in the 1980s.

Said Nelson: “When we went to two-platoon football, I said scoring would go down because the better players would be on defense. But scoring for two teams in a game went from an average of 30 points to 47 points.”

Will Nelson present any more legislation to take some of the foot out of football?

“Sure, bring back the tee,” he joked. “Only make it three inches instead of the two-inch tee it is now.”