Much ado about nothing

Any rule change is sports is always followed by stories about its impact on the game. What is going to happen now? Will it give certain teams an advantage? Why was the change necessary? Before the season began, the NCAA decided to move kickoffs back five yards to the 30, and, sure enough, sports journalists around the country couldn’t wait to write about it.

Well, now that it’s almost October, the data is in and it might surprise you. Get this: Following a kickoff, he average starting field position for Southeastern Conference teams in 2007 is…three yards further than it was last year. That’s right. The ball is now being snapped at the 31, instead of the 28. Oooh. Fascinating.

Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the rule change has been Arkansas’ Felix Jones, whose kickoff return (38.5 yards) average leads the conference. It’s not like his success is unprecedented, however. Jones is averaging 29.3 yards per return for his career, which right now is the best ever in the SEC and ranks fifth in NCAA history.

Filed under: Arkansas Football, SEC Football by Rainer Sabin. Posted on: September 28, 2007 at 1:14 pm