I'm tired of watching games where a football coach decides to ice the opposing kicker by calling a timeout at the last possible second before the snap. And yes, I'm aware that it worked (for the first time I can recall) for the Houston Texans yesterday. More often it doesn't, and in fact could have bitten Utah in the ass against Pitt this season. I would dearly like to see the NCAA (and, for that matter, the NFL) adopt the following rule.

In cases where the clock is stopped, if the offensive team is lined up to attempt a kick and the holder is in position with his knee on the ground, the defensive team can no longer call a timeout. Doing so would result in a delay of game penalty, meaning the offense would be entitled to five yards.

Somebody please do something!

USFFan

(09-20-2010 02:11 PM)usffan Wrote:  I'm tired of watching games where a football coach decides to ice the opposing kicker by calling a timeout at the last possible second before the snap. And yes, I'm aware that it worked (for the first time I can recall) for the Houston Texans yesterday. More often it doesn't, and in fact could have bitten Utah in the ass against Pitt this season. I would dearly like to see the NCAA (and, for that matter, the NFL) adopt the following rule.

In cases where the clock is stopped, if the offensive team is lined up to attempt a kick and the holder is in position with his knee on the ground, the defensive team can no longer call a timeout. Doing so would result in a delay of game penalty, meaning the offense would be entitled to five yards.

Somebody please do something!

USFFan

I hate the trend, too, but the danger is that the cure might be worse than the disease. As annoying as the icing timeouts might be, I don't believe that a field goal formation should somehow receive different treatment in terms of when you can call a timeout versus any other play in the game. Besides, you never know when the formation matters. For instance, let's say that Brian Kelly had the foresight to something strange in the formation when the MSU lined up for its kick in OT on Saturday that would've tipped him off that it was a fake. The coach has to have the ability to call a timeout there. The play clock is the play clock - until the ball is snapped, either side can call a timeout. It's a basic bright line rule and the muddy it up with a qualifier just for kicking will likely lead to a whole lot of bad ref decisions.

The NFL has the smarter of the two rules. You can only ice the kicker once. Specifically, once a timeout is called and play is to resume, you cannot call a 2nd timeout. Joe Gibbs got bit by this. He attempted to ice Buffalo's kicker a couple years ago and called consecutive timeouts. The 2nd timeout triggered a 15 yard penalty, which decreased the distance on the GW FG attempt from 52 yards down to 37. He promptly drilled the kick.

During Gibbs 1st stint as HC, you could call consecutive timeouts. The rule change was enacted during his foray into NASCAR team ownership.

College allows for consecutive timeouts.

(09-20-2010 02:33 PM)mattsarz Wrote:  The NFL has the smarter of the two rules. You can only ice the kicker once. Specifically, once a timeout is called and play is to resume, you cannot call a 2nd timeout. Joe Gibbs got bit by this. He attempted to ice Buffalo's kicker a couple years ago and called consecutive timeouts. The 2nd timeout triggered a 15 yard penalty, which decreased the distance on the GW FG attempt from 52 yards down to 37. He promptly drilled the kick.

During Gibbs 1st stint as HC, you could call consecutive timeouts. The rule change was enacted during his foray into NASCAR team ownership.

College allows for consecutive timeouts.

Very true and I think it's a good rule. Of course, this doesn't just apply to kicking - no team can call 2 consecutive timeouts in the NFL no matter what. If you call a timeout, at least one play has to occur before you can take another timeout.

I guess having the NCAA impose the rule that limits you to one time out would at least cut into it, but I still think it's worth having the delay penalty for it once the teams are lined up in kick formation. If a coach really needs the timeout (wrong personnel, fear of a fake), it's worth the five yards. If he's just doing it to ice the kicker, he's probably not willing to let him get 5 yards closer. There's precedent for special rules during kicks such as improper uniform numbers being eligible receivers, etc. You could even limit this rule to the final two minutes or overtime, kind of like clock rules for out of bounds plays...

USFFan

I hate the icing too, like the NFL rule that it can only be done once, but ... wish there was a way to eliminate icing all together without, as Frank says, having a cure that is worse than the disease.

And i haven't come up with an alternative that doesn't do that.

Well, the best way to stop the trend is for coaches on their own to realize that the trend doesn't work. Take a look at this Wall Street Journal study published today that shows that kickers actually do better after an icing timeout than if they just go ahead and kick:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...Carousel_1

If it ends up backfiring more often than not, then coaches will eventually stop it.