BYU game kickoffs

[spierceisu]

I am not complaining about anything in the game with it being a nice win, but our kickoffs seemed off. One of them worked out since we got a fumble on a short kickoff, but we had a lot of short kicks that resulted in decent field position and a kickoff that went out of bounds too. For those there, was the weather a factor in this? Our kickoffs usually go close to the endzone or into it, but they all seemed short Saturday. BYU didn't have any issues getting it to the endzone. Again, not complaining, just curious.

 

[ZorkClone]

My hope would be that since we have a special teams coach now, these are planned short kicks due to something we see in their returner or return team. The short kick that ended in a fumble is exactly why you might want to kick it to a non-returner.

 

[isufbcurt]

I am not complaining about anything in the game with it being a nice win, but our kickoffs seemed off. One of them worked out since we got a fumble on a short kickoff, but we had a lot of short kicks that resulted in decent field position and a kickoff that went out of bounds too. For those there, was the weather a factor in this? Our kickoffs usually go close to the endzone or into it, but they all seemed short Saturday. BYU didn't have any issues getting it to the endzone. Again, not complaining, just curious.

One of the players mentioned on the postgame show that the plan was to pooch kick it to an upback hoping they would mishandle it.

 

[isufbcurt]

My hope would be that since we have a special teams coach now, these are planned short kicks due to something we see in their returner or return team. The short kick that ended in a fumble is exactly why you might want to kick it to a non-returner.

Exactly. I told my wife the usual rule is those guys call a fair catch because they are not used to handling returns. That is the spot I played on kick off return and if I ever didn't call I fair catch I'd probably have never played again lol.

We must have seen on film that they don't fair catch.

 

[Clonefan32]

I am not complaining about anything in the game with it being a nice win, but our kickoffs seemed off. One of them worked out since we got a fumble on a short kickoff, but we had a lot of short kicks that resulted in decent field position and a kickoff that went out of bounds too. For those there, was the weather a factor in this? Our kickoffs usually go close to the endzone or into it, but they all seemed short Saturday. BYU didn't have any issues getting it to the endzone. Again, not complaining, just curious.

I thought it was kind of interesting strategy as well. One I recall they fair caught at around the 40. If you're going to do that, just kick a out-of-bounds. But obviously it worked out to an extent to with the fumble.

 

[beentherebefore]

Similar strategy used at least once (and successful) in Fiesta Bowl vs. Oregon.

 

[clonedude]

I assume playing at whatever elevation Provo is, that we could have kicked it out of the end zone had we wanted to?

 

[spierceisu]

If that was the strategy, I had wondered if we were concerned with a returner BYU had. I know Oregon had some dangerous athletes so the pooch kick made sense. I know it seemed to work (IE fumble) so not mad.

 

[CyCoug]

I assume playing at whatever elevation Provo is, that we could have kicked it out of the end zone had we wanted to?

4,500 feet. Somewhat high, but it’s not like it’s in the realm of yetis and sherpas.

I’d be interested in knowing how much difference each thousand feet of elevation makes.

 

[CascadeClone]

4,500 feet. Somewhat high, but it’s not like it’s in the realm of yetis and sherpas.

I’d be interested in knowing how much difference each thousand feet of elevation makes.

Air density is about 14% less at 5000 ft than sea level. So less drag means it will go further horizontally but also drop faster vertically... but higher speeds overall through the flight of the ball, the drag would be increased a bit...

Back of envelope I would say 10% further is a decent guess. So if you normally kickoff right to the goal line, 10% more would be back half of the end zone.


googled and found some agreement:
For his book "Football Physics, the Science of the Game," University of Nebraska professor Timothy Gay ran the numbers on eight different teams from cities that (basically) sit at sea level — like the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots — that played at least one road game in Denver during the 2001 or 2002 seasons.

He found that in those two years, the visiting kickers from low-elevation towns enjoyed some great numbers when they went to Denver. Up in Colorado, their kickoffs traveled 70.1 yards (64 meters) on average. Back in their respective home fields, that average kickoff distance dropped to 62.8 yards (57.4 meters).