Should have kicked off

[HelenaTider]

This exact thing happened in a game during Stallings tenure as coach. I don't think it was planned, I think the captains in the game got confused during the coin toss/decision time, but Alabama ended up kicking off to whoever the opponent was in the first half and then kicked off again to them at the start of the 2nd half. Stallings was asked about it after the game and he said it was a mix up, so it wasn't done for field position. And we won the game so no big deal was made of it.
Using hindsight, it does seem like it would have been a good idea in this year's AU game though.

 

[C Earl]

Shula would be crucified for kicking off twice. The guy sitting next to me wanted to kick off both halves. Of course his fair weather fan rear end was not around to see the second half kick. That being said you cannot knowingly give the other team an extra possession. No one knows how the defense would have played with a long field so they did the only thing they could. In a perfect world we would win the toss and defer and we are not even discussing this right now.

 

[NYBamaFan]

Think about this - what message is he sending to his players on offense if/when he chooses to kick off in both halves? He has to receive there and hope for the best. I am sure that he thought that he had a few plays that might take advantage of things that they noticed when studying film.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out - but that doesn't make it a bad decision. It just makes it tough to swallow, getting stepped on right out of the gates...

 

[Selma-Bama-Fan]

has anyone in the history of football chosen to kick after losing the toss...on purpose that is? what would we all be saying had we elected to kick and AU drove the length of the field or had a good return and put them selves in good field position?...people would be blowing smoke out of thier ears demanding heads roll for giving AU the ball to start both halves.

I remember a couple years back where an NFL coach elected to kick off to start an overtime. He won the toss and elected to kick, because neither team had been scoring. The other team immediately drove the ball down the field and kicked a field goal heh. The media ofcourse gave him a hard time after the game :biggrin:

I dont remember the teams or coaches involved though.

 

[ua9899]

In overtime in the NFL you would be stupid to not receive the ball in OT because it is a sudden death OT. But, the opposite is true in college OT. Think about it, what do most teams choose to do in OT? Most play defense first. In theory that's the same as kicking off first.

 

[cbi1972]

In overtime in the NFL you would be stupid to not receive the ball in OT because it is a sudden death OT. But, the opposite is true in college OT. Think about it, what do most teams choose to do in OT? Most play defense first. In theory that's the same as kicking off first.

It isn't the same at all.

In sudden death overtime, first team to score wins. So you usually want to have the ball to get into at least field goal range. Field position is a large factor in sudden death overtime.

In college overtime, both teams get a possession near the red zone. Teams want to play defense first because they want to play offense second, so they will know whether they need a touchdown or if a field goal can win it. Field position is a nonfactor in college overtime.

 

[cbi1972]

one things for sure, it would have broken common thought pattern. We could have kicked off, held them on a 3 and out, got the ball at our forty, had Brodie drop back to pass, NO, its a draw, Darby to the 50, 40, 30, 25, 15, 10 5,4,3,2,1 TOUCHDOWN ALABAMA!

Damn, got to stop doing this to myself.

How many tackles at the goal line would he have to break for the announcer to have time to say 5,4,3,2,1?