Today's Tidbit... The Trailing Team's Choice To Kick Or Receive

We have been on a recent kick looking at the rules affecting which team boots the ball to start the game or second half, and today we get to review another oddball kicking rule. A story from a few days ago described the NCAA rule that gave the team scored upon the option to kick or receive, which remained in effect until 2003.

Another story variation began in 1934 when the Pacific Coast Conference voted in favor of a rule giving the trailing team the option to kick or receive. The PCC representative to upcoming rules meeting presumably submitted the idea to the committee, but the idea went way until 1946 when Fordham and Georgetown agreed in the spring to play their game under this rule. (They also decided to play 4-minute quarters with the clock running only during active play.)

Unfortunately, both schools had dropped football from 1943 to 1945, so the early October game would be Fordham's first post-war football game and Georgetown's second since they lost to Wake Forest the previous week. Given the situation, the teams decided the game was too important to test these rules, so they played under standard rules, with Georgetown winning 8-7, and the trailer's choice rule would not have made little or no difference.

Playing under the lights for the first time, Fordham fell to Georgetown 8-7. (1947 Georgetown yearbook)