15 Feet

Is 15 feet that big of a deal in college football?

Tell that to the 119 D-I kickers who now move back five yards to kick off to opposing teams.

Officials expect more kickoff returns to make the game more enjoyable. More enjoyable? Were there too many touchbacks in 2006?

Let's look at Arkansas. Brian Vavra kicked off 72 times and tallied 22 touchbacks. His average kick traveled 61.2 yards - on average Brian did not reach the goal line. Kick return average by opponents was 21.4.

What does this mean. It means in the case of the Arkansas Razorbacks our opponents 2006 kick return average of 21.4 is about to increase.