I never thought I'd see this, but this little footnote in the NCAA rules came into play just now in the Texas-Texas A&M game. This is from Rule 8-1-1 in the NCAA rulebook.
The point value of scoring plays shall be:
Touchdown 6 Points
Field Goal 3 Points
Safety (points awarded to opponent) 2 PointsSuccessful Try
To u c h d o w n 2 Points
Field Goal or Safety 1 Point
I added the italics. On a botched extra point try by Texas, the Aggies recovered the kick at their one, then fumbled it back into the endzone, where they recovered it and fell on it. That gave the Longhorns a one-point safety.
Note that in college ball, the defence can run a conversion back for a two-point "touchdown;" I never knew they could be tackled for a one-point safety.
I've never seen that before and am unlikely to ever see it again.
That's weird -- makes sense, I guess.
BTW, I thought you were from Michigan; when did you pick up the British accent ("the defence can...")?
Posted by: William Sulik | November 26, 2004 at 10:06 PM
Who says it's British? It's an "oot and aboot" Canadian accent picked up from hanging out with Bene. Besides,
The Safety Danceis from a Canadian band (Men Without Hats) , so we need a Canadian spelling :-)Defence is one of my bigger typoes, right up behind restaurant and amendment with two m's up front, or millennium with one n. I posted this as I was being paged for dinner and forgot to spell-check it.
Posted by: Mark Byron | November 27, 2004 at 06:48 AM
no worries, mate.
When I spell check (using blogger), everything crashes, so I've learned to avoid it.
;-D
Posted by: William Sulik | November 28, 2004 at 05:11 PM
The thing about the 1 point safety, is that if the team that originally scored the touchdown (offense) can score a one point safety, than both teams (offense and defense) are able to score in this way, just as both teams (offense and defense) are able to score 2 point "touchdowns". Here's how it would work: During a point(s) after attempt, the defensive team gains possesion of the ball runs it to the opposite end of the field and fumbles before the ball reaches the end zone, the original offensive team would then have to re-gain possesion before re-fumbling the ball into their endzone, if they fumble through the endzone out-of-bounds or recover the fumble and are tackled, then a single point would be awarded to the defensive team. In essence, a team CAN score a single point in a game accordinng to NCAA rules. Wouldn't 6 to 1 be a funky final score. It is possible though.
Posted by: Joseph Dorer | November 30, 2004 at 01:53 AM
Another way that safety for the defense could happen is with a blocked kick knocking the ball back towards midfield and one of those slippery-pumpkin misadventures ensues where no one gets control of the ball and it heads back into and out of bounds in the opposite end zone.
Don't hold your breath waiting for an X-1 score to happen; it's more likely that the NCAA would adopt the CFL rule giving teams a point for a touchback than an extra-point safety for the defense happening before then.
Posted by: Mark Byron | November 30, 2004 at 05:14 AM