NCAA Field Goal Rules Explained: A Comprehensive Guide

A field goal is a crucial scoring play in gridiron football, offering a team three points for successfully kicking the ball through the uprights. This article delves into the intricacies of NCAA field goal rules, covering everything from the basic requirements to historical context and overtime procedures.

What is a Field Goal?

In gridiron football, a field goal (FG) is a method of scoring points. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges.

A field goal cannot be scored from a punt, as the ball must touch the ground at one point after the snap and before it is kicked in order to be a valid field goal. American football requires that a field goal must only come during a play from scrimmage, except in the case of a fair catch kick.

The Goal Structure

The goal structure consists of a horizontal crossbar suspended 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground, with two vertical goalposts 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m) apart extending vertically from each end of the crossbar. In American football, the goals are centered on each end line. In order for a field goal to be scored, or to be "good", the entire ball must pass through the rectangular plane formed by the bottom horizontal crossbar and two vertical uprights formed by the goalpost.

The Mechanics of a Field Goal Attempt

When a team decides to attempt a field goal, it will generally line up in a very tight formation, with all but two players lined up along or near the line of scrimmage: the placekicker and the holder. The holder usually lines up seven to eight yards behind the line of scrimmage, with the kicker a few yards behind him. Upon receiving the snap, the holder holds the ball against the ground vertically, with the stitches away from the kicker. The kicker begins his approach during the snap, so the snapper and holder have little margin for error. A split-second mistake can disrupt the entire attempt.

Depending on the level of play, the ball, upon reaching the holder, is held up by either the aid of a small rubber "tee" (all ranks up to the high school level, which is not the same as the kickoff tee, but rather a small platform, and comes in either 1 or 2-inch varieties) or is held up by the ground (in college and at the professional level). The measurement of a field goal's distance is from the goalpost to the point where the ball was positioned for the kick by the holder.

The "Soccer-Style" Kicking Revolution

Until the 1960s, placekickers approached the ball straight on, with the toe making first contact with the ball. The technique of kicking the ball "soccer-style", by approaching the ball at an angle and kicking it with the instep, was introduced by Hungarian-born kicker Pete Gogolak in the 1960s. Reflecting his roots in European soccer, Gogolak observed that kicking the ball at an angle could cover more distance than kicking straight-on; he played college football at Cornell and made his pro debut in 1964 with the Buffalo Bills of the AFL; his younger brother Charlie was also an NFL kicker.

What Happens After a Successful Field Goal?

If a team scores a field goal, they kickoff to return possession of the ball to the opposing team. In the waning moments of the second half, if a successful kick will win or tie the game. In this situation, a team may choose to attempt the field goal on an earlier down or if there is still enough time remaining to execute more than one play. In overtime, if a successful field goal wins and ends the game, a team may choose to attempt a game-winning kick as soon as they get into field goal range.

Strategy Behind Field Goal Attempts

Except in desperate situations, a team will generally attempt field goals only when keeping a drive alive is unlikely, and its kicker has a significant chance of success, as a missed field goal results in a turnover at the spot of the kick (in the NFL) or at the line of scrimmage (in the NCAA). In American high school rules and Canadian football, where a missed field goal is treated the same as a punt, most teams still opt not to attempt field goals from very long range since field goal formations are not conducive to covering kick returns. Even under ideal conditions, the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently. If a team chooses not to attempt a field goal on their last down, they can punt to the other team.

What Happens After a Missed Field Goal?

A missed field goal is said to be "no good" if the kicked ball does not cross between the uprights and over the crossbar of the goal posts. If it misses to the side of the uprights, it may be called "wide left" or "wide right" as the case may be. A field goal attempt may be described as "short" if it does not have sufficient distance to go over the cross bar.

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If a field goal attempt is missed, and the ball does not go out of bounds and has not been ruled dead by a referee, then a defensive player may advance the ball, as with a punt or kickoff. This type of play usually occurs either during an extremely long field goal attempt or if the attempt is blocked. If there is a significant likelihood of a miss and the strategic game situation warrants it, the defense places a player downfield, in or near their end zone, to catch the ball. The risk in this is that the return man may be tackled deep in his own territory, at a considerably worse position than he could have gotten by letting the ball go dead. Furthermore, should the returner fumble the ball, the kicking team can recover it and gain a new set of downs. The advantage is that the kicking team is lined up very close together to stop kick blockers, and not spread across the field like a kickoff or punt team, and is therefore in poor position to defend the return.

If a ball caroms off one of the goal posts or the crossbar but lands in the field of play, the ball is considered dead and cannot be returned. However, if the ball continues into the goal after caroming, the score counts.

Missed field goals attempted from the defending team's 20-yard line or closer result in the defense taking possession at their 20-yard line. Missed field goals attempted from behind the 20-yard line result in the opposing team taking possession at the spot of the kick. Under NFHS (high school) rules (except Texas, which plays largely by NCAA rules), a field goal attempt is no different from any other scrimmage kick (punt, drop kick). If the field goal attempt is no good and enters the end zone it is a touchback (NFHS rules do not allow a scrimmage kick or free kick to be advanced if it crosses the goal line). If the ball becomes dead on the field the defensive team will next put the ball in play from that point.

The Drop Kick: A Relic of the Past

Modern football is full of precision plays - clean snap-to-hold timing, laser-focused field goal attempts, and strategic punts. But hidden within the rulebook is a relic from the sport’s earlier days: the drop kick.

A drop kick involves a player dropping the football and kicking it as it bounces off the ground. For the kick to be legal, the ball must touch the ground before it is kicked - it can’t be volleyed or struck before hitting the turf.

Under both NFL and NCAA rules, a drop kick can be used to score points the same way a regular field goal or extra point is attempted. If the drop-kicked ball goes through the uprights and over the crossbar, it counts as three points for a field goal or one point for a conversion after a touchdown. The rules don’t distinguish between a drop kick, place kick, or a kick off a tee when awarding points - only the execution method differs.

In football’s early years, drop kicks were a common way to attempt field goals and extra points because of the rounder shape of the ball. Today’s more elongated, pointed football makes consistent drop kicks much harder to execute, reducing their presence to rare moments rather than standard plays.

Historical Evolution of Field Goal Rules

In the early days of football, kicking was emphasized. In 1883, the scoring system was devised with field goals counting for five points, touchdowns two points, and conversions four points. In the following year touchdowns doubled in value to four, and rose to five in 1898. Meanwhile, the value of a conversion fell to two points in 1884 and one point in 1898. Field goals were devalued to four points in 1904, and then to the modern three points in 1909.

The spot of the conversion has also changed through the years. In 1924, NCAA rules spotted the conversion at the 3-yard line, before moving it back to the 5-yard line in 1925. In 1929, the spot was moved up to the 2-yard line, matching the NFL. In 1968, the NCAA diverged from the NFL rules and moved the spot back to the original 3-yard line. In 2015, to make conversion kicks harder, the NFL and CFL moved the line of scrimmage for conversion kicks to the 15- and 25-yard lines, respectively.

The goalposts were originally located on the goal line; this led to many injuries and sometimes interfered with play. The NCAA moved the goal posts to the rear of the end zone in 1927. The NFL (still following NCAA rules at the time) followed suit, but moved the posts back to the goal line starting in the 1932 NFL Playoff Game, a change made necessary by the size of the indoor Chicago Stadium and kept when the NFL rules stopped mirroring the NCAA rules in 1933. The NFL kept the goal posts at the goal line until 1974, when they were moved back to the rear of the end zone, where they have remained since. This was partly a result of the narrowed hashmark distance made in 1972 (making them the same width as the goalposts), which had made for easier field-goal angles.

The width of the goalposts and the hashmarks have also varied throughout the years. In 1959, the NCAA goalposts were widened to 23 feet 4 inches (7.11 m), the standard width for high school posts today. In 1991, the college goalposts were reduced in width to 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m), matching the NFL. For the 1991 and 1992 seasons, this meant potentially severe angles for short field goal attempts, since the hashmark width remained at 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m). In 1993, the NCAA narrowed the distance between the hashmarks to 40 ft (12.19 m), matching what was the width of hashmarks in the NFL from 1945 through 1971; as mentioned above, the NFL narrowed the hashmarks in 1972 to goalpost width at 18.5 feet (5.64 m). Canadian hash marks in amateur play are 51 feet (16 m) apart, 24 yards from each sideline.

The NFL increased the height of the uprights above the crossbar to 20 feet (6.10 m) in 1966 and 30 feet (9.14 m) in 1974. The "slingshot" goalpost, having a single post curving 90° up from the ground to support the crossbar, was invented by Jim Trimble and Joel Rottman in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The first ones were built by Alcan and displayed at the Expo 67 world's fair in Montreal. The NFL had standardized its goalposts in 1966 and adopted the slingshot for the 1967 season. The NCAA subsequently adopted the same rule, but later allowed the use of "offset" goalposts with the older two-post base. The CFL was the first league to use the slingshot goalposts.

College Football Overtime Rules

Overtime occurs when the game is tied at the end of regulation (through four quarters), and the team that scores the most points in overtime wins the game. Unlike in the NFL, each team gets one possession from the opponent's 25-yard line to begin overtime. If either team outscores the other during the first overtime period, that team wins the game. If it remains tied at the end of the first overtime, another overtime period is played with each team again starting from the 25-yard line. If the game is still tied after two overtime periods, both teams alternate 2-point conversion attempts to determine a winner.

There is no game clock in overtime, as each team gets possession regardless of how long the previous series takes. There is still a play clock in overtime periods.

If the game is tied at the end of regulation, the captain of the visiting team calls heads or tails. The side that wins the toss chooses whether to start on offense or defense, or which end of the field it will defend in the first overtime period. The side that loses the toss chooses from the remaining option. Typically, teams will choose to defend first in overtime for a very simple reason: They want to know how many points they'll need to score on their offensive possession. If the team that starts on offense scores a touchdown, the other team knows it can't settle for a field goal on its offensive possession. Conversely, if the initial team fails to score at all, a field goal would win it for the other team.

Just like in the first overtime period, each team begins the second overtime period from the opponent's 25-yard line, and the team that scores the most points wins the game. If either team scores a touchdown, they are required to attempt a 2-point conversion in the second overtime period - an attempt to limit the number of successive overtime periods needed to resolve the game.

If the game remains tied after two overtime periods, both teams alternate 2-point conversion attempts instead of starting drives from the opponent's 25-yard line. This continues until one team converts and the other doesn't, resulting in a 2-point win for the converting team.

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