Sophomore kicker James Hairston will kick off the Tigers’ 2012 campaign against North Texas on Saturday differently from any previous season in college football history.
The NCAA announced this offseason that teams will kick off from the 35-yard line instead of the 30-yard line and touchbacks will be brought out to the 25-yard line instead of the 20.
Hairston downplayed the impact of the new rules.
“Kicking is kicking and it will always be kicking,” Hairston said. “Now it is just five yards closer.”
According to the NCAA, the rule changes were made for player safety reasons. An NCAA study found that there were more kickoffs last season and that the biggest collisions occurred on kickoffs.
The new rules were made to make kickoffs a less significant part of the game by making it more advantageous for teams to not take the ball out of the end zone.
Last season, the Tigers utilized the high, short kickoff. Hairston had the leg to reach the end zone but instead kicked the ball short of the goal line and allowed the coverage team handle the rest.
Sophomore wide receiver Jarvis Landry and junior safety Craig Loston, both five-star recruits, stood out on kickoff coverage last season.
“Everyone has to be able to play special teams,” Landry said. “Coach [Les] Miles stresses that if you can’t play special teams, you can’t play offense or defense.”
This strategy might change this season. LSU still puts superior athletes on special teams, but part of the rules changes might make the special teams players’ coverage less effective.
Coverage men must line up within five yards of the ball, which eliminates the running start under the old rules.
“This team works so hard that really they don’t need much of a running start,” Hairston said. “The athletes we have covering the kicks are explosive, and I think if anything they will take these new rules as a challenge.”
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Contact James Moran at [email protected]