UCF is paying
close attention to the new kickoff rule instituted by the NCAA this offseason in which teams can fair-catch a ball anywhere inside the 25-yard line for a touchback.
Thirteen seconds. That’s all the time it took for Mike Hughes to catch the football at his own 5-yard line before weaving his way through a crowd of defenders and racing 95 yards to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown that would send a euphoric UCF fan base home with a thrilling 49-42 win over rival USF at a raucous Spectrum Stadium last season.
It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown by Hughes and the Knights last season and the fourth overall since the program joined the American Athletic Conference in 2013.
There were 61 kickoff returns for touchdowns at the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2017.
Kickoff returns have long been considered one of the most exciting plays in football, but they’ve also been responsible for some of the most intense collisions and debilitating in-
juries.
As a result, the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel implemented a rule change set to debut this season allowing teams to signal for a fair catch anywhere inside the 25-yard line for a touchback.
Nick Toth, who is in his first season as UCF’s special-teams coordinator, believes many teams are taking a wait-and-see approach to the new rule, but he can already sense how teams would benefit from using a touchback option.
“The kickoff return is an explosive play, but a really good kickoff return is 23 yards,” Toth explains. “If you look at rankings and stuff like that, 23 [yards] puts you in the top quarter of the country and if you raise your hand and fair-catch it, you get it at the 25, so you are giving to get.”
According to the NCAA, there were eight teams that averaged more than 25 yards per kickoff attempt in 2017, with UCF averaging 24.83 yards per return.
The temptation to go for a game-changing play is always going to be there, but teams must always assess risk versus reward.
“You want a chance for an explosive play, but the opportunity for a turnover is there and so it’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Toth said.
“We aren’t really looking at it any different. We’re covering our butt off. We’re getting the best guys that can run down and cover and we’re trying to kick that thing as deep as we can. We’re going to let the opponent do what they want to do.”
Redshirt-senior punter Mac Loudermilk admits the specialists haven’t focused too much attention on the new rules change.
“Our approach has been as it’s always been, if teams want to take the ball on the 25, that’s them. If they don’t want to run it out, then it is what it is and we can’t control that,” Loudermilk said. “But our mindset is still just putting the ball like we always did and letting it play out.”
Toth cautions his players that they need to guard against becoming complacent, especially with opponents who choose to utilize the fair catch rule frequently.
“When guys see fair catches, sometimes you see effort and strain stop,” Toth said. “What we don’t want to do is count on this rule being applied on every play. You want to make sure the effort and strain is there, so when the opportunity to play the play happens, you’re ready to go.
“You may get fair catches the first five times, but the sixth one might not be so. We’re trying to guard against that a little bit, that’s probably the biggest change.”
Toth praises special teams
Toth praised the progress his special-teams unit has shown so far during preseason camp.
“I’m really pleased with the seniors: Caleb [Perez], Matt Wright and Mac Loudermilk,” Toth said. “They understand camp. They understand the progress that we need to make.
“We’ve got two young kids that have a chance to be good players in Andrew Osteen and we’ve got Connor Piazza, who’s in as a kicker. They’ve got tons of ability, but right now they don’t know what to expect day-to-day.”