Gophers’ onside kicks provoke Ferentz to seek — and gain — NCAA rule change

CHICAGO - History won't wipe away a 2011 onside kick when four Minnesota players decimated two Hawkeyes, which enabled a surprise recovery and led to an 22-21 upset. But if the same play took place this fall, it would be nullified.

A kicking team's players remain banned from blocking the receiving team before they were eligible to touch the ball. Starting this year, the NCAA's rules committee deemed blocking on kickoffs reviewable, something for which Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz has lobbied.

'Coach Ferentz sent this play in the last couple of years,” said Bill Carollo, the Big Ten's coordinator of football officials. 'I couldn't get it through for two consecutive years. So finally it went to the rules committee and said this is a safety issue. They can't be blocking; the kicking team cannot block until they're eligible to touch the ball.

'The receivers ... usually I'm waiting for this ball that's kicked in the ground, and I'm defenseless and we're blowing people up. Even if we're not hitting them in the head, we're blowing them up. So they can't be blocking until the ball is touched by the receivers or the ball goes 10 yards.”

The rule directly impacts the longtime Big Ten border rivals. Minnesota dinged Iowa in consecutive years on onside kicks, and both were crucial toward deciding the game's outcome. In 2010, Minnesota converted one early under interim head coach Jeff Horton and took a 10-0 lead en route to a 27-24 victory. The following year, the play was perhaps more pivotal.

The Gophers scored a touchdown to cut Iowa's lead to 21-16 with 8 minutes, 22 seconds remaining. Minnesota struggled to stop Iowa running back Marcus Coker, who had rushed for 249 yards in three quarters. So before the kickoff, Gophers Coach Jerry Kill asked his assistants if they'd favor an onside kick, which they did.

Six Gophers lined up to the right as kicker Jordan Wettstein approached the ball from the left. Wettstein launched the ball high in the air toward Minnesota's sideline. Four Gophers attacked Iowa's up-men; two shielded off Nick Nielsen and two others blasted Jason White. Minnesota's Kim Royston and Lamonte Edwards had to wait for the ball to land before Royston recovered it 11 yards past the kick.

'Our two guys, we double-doubled,” Kill said after the game. 'We doubled their end, we doubled their tackle and put the ball in behind it. It was a great kick, great execution.

'I've been doing that particular onside kick for about 13 years. I actually wrote a little paper on how we teach it.”

Minnesota, which was 1-6 at the time, later scored the game-winning touchdown to win 22-21.

Carollo said the plays were reason enough to ensure future video review.

'It's just too hard live on the field to know who's blocking in the middle of the field and the ball's way over on the boundary,” Carollo said. 'Did that block occur before he touched it? Did he touch it after 10 yards? So we said, ‘Let's throw it up to replay. Let them look at it, they can slow it down.'

'We had two plays, back-to-back against Minnesota. So what does that tell me? It's being coached. Because we aren't calling it, they're getting away with it. We put a stop to it and made it reviewable. Same game, our (Big Ten-officiated) games. They executed it well and recovered the ball.”

Under further review, those plays still count. But they won't anymore.

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