How Rule Change of Kickoffs Impacted College Football in Year 1

Given that a season has passed since the NCAA tweaked its kickoff rules, it’s time to gauge the impact the revisions had on college football.

Here's what changed, according to a Feb. 24, 2012, article from NCAA.org.

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Next fall, teams will kick off at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. Also, players on the kicking team can’t line up for the play behind the 30-yard line, which is intended to limit the running start kicking teams used to have during the play.

Also, touchbacks on free kicks will be moved to the 25-yard line instead of the 20 to encourage more touchbacks. Touchbacks on other plays (for example, punts that go into the end zone, or fumbles that go out of the end zone) will remain at the 20-yard line.

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To clarify why the rule was changed, here's what the NCAA stated.

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The recommended changes came from the Football Rules Committee after that group examined NCAA data showing that injuries during kickoffs occur more often than in other phases of the game.

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So then, what was the impact?

Touchbacks

One of the aims of the new kickoff rules was to increase the number of touchbacks by moving the origin of the kick from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line.

This modification obviously gives the kicker a shorter field and an easier shot at getting the ball into the end zone.

According to data provided by cfbstats, the total number of touchbacks on kickoffs in 2012 was 3,259, up significantly from 1,399 in 2011 and 1,279 in 2010.

This makes it clear that the rule change did indeed increase the number of touchbacks, thereby decreasing the number of return attempts.

Return Stats

If there were fewer returns in 2012 compared to 2011, then it makes sense that there would also be a drop in total return yards.

One way to analyze this change is to compare the top return specialists from 2012 to those from 2011.

Last season, the top kickoff returner in the FBS was Mike Edwards from Hawaii, who posted 1,215 yards on 40 returns.  At No. 2 was Tobias Parker from N.C. State with 1,124 yards on 44 returns, and at No. 3 was D.J. Banks from Louisiana Tech with 1,044 yards on 39 returns.

To summarize, the top three kickoff returners in 2012 averaged 1,127 total yards on 41 attempts.

In 2011, the top three were Fresno State’s Isaiah Burse with 1,557 yards on 73 returns, New Mexico State’s Taveon Rogers with 1,308 yards on 50 returns and Tulane’s Robert Kelley with 1,305 yards on 64 returns.

The averages for 2011 are 1,390 total yards on 62 attempts.

These numbers make it clear that the rule change had a significant effect on both the total yards earned and the number of kicks returned.

The change will also make NCAA records—such as most kickoff return yards in a game, season and career—more difficult to break.

Average Starting Field Position

According to cfbstats, the average starting position after a kickoff in 2012 was the 26.36-yard line. In 2011, it was the 27.77-yard line.

In this area it’s clear that the rule change did not have a substantial impact. The explanation for the minimal decrease is tied directly to the increase in touchbacks, which naturally decreases the number of times a sizable return would result.

Injuries

Since the intent of the rule change was to decrease the number of injuries on kickoffs, it’s interesting to see if the revision had the desired effect.

Tracking injuries, especially on a specific type of play, is considerably more difficult than finding data on returnj stats because injuries are not part of the statistical record kept for each game.

What is accessible is the total number of specific injuries in a season, a stat which can be found by reviewing the injury report in the final week of a given year at College Injury Report.

According to this source, in 2012 there were 55 total concussions in the FBS ranks, while in 2011 the number was more than 120.

Though it would be difficult to tie the reduction directly to kickoffs, the rule change and the drop in concussions is more than a mere coincidence, especially given that there were 1,860 more touchbacks in 2012 than in 2011.

The argument that the NCAA rule change is effectively protecting athletes from injury on kickoffs will only strengthen with detailed injury reporting and additional years of comparative results.