College football’s opening weekend gave fans plenty to talk about, but one quiet rule change is setting up a massive tactical shift. The NCAA officially brought back the fair-catch kick, a rule already familiar to NFL and high school fans. After a controversial sequence in the Oregon-Boise State game put special teams calls under the microscope, this long-forgotten option is back on every coach’s radar.

The backdrop for the rule matters, as CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore identified two missed calls in Boise State’s 34-27 loss to No. 2 Oregon, where the Broncos benefited from the first and the Ducks from the second missed call.

“Under another rule approved by the oversight committee, a team can choose to attempt a kick after a completed or awarded fair catch,” an X post from SEC Officiating read. “The kick will be a field goal place kick with a holder (no tee) or a drop kick from the spot where the returner caught the ball. If the ensuing kick goes through the uprights, it will add 3 points to that team’s total. The defense is required to be at least 10 yards from the spot of the kick. This rule further aligns Division I with similar rules that exist in the NFL and high school football.”

During the second quarter, Oregon’s receiver Evan Stewart muffed the catch attempt on a fair-catch signal with Boise State’s Jameson Perry within a yard of him. NCAA rules require a returner to have an “unimpeded opportunity to catch the kick,” so the play should have drawn a kick-catch interference penalty. However, no flag was thrown, and the Broncos recovered and scored a 38-yard touchdown on the next play. As the call was a judgment ruling, it could not be reviewed.

That wasn’t the only questionable non-call. When Boise State was trailing, quarterback Maddux Madsen took a direct hit to the facemask from Oregon’s linebacker Nasir Wyatt on a third-and-17, and got no penalty there either.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning also admitted that his team had plenty to clean up, saying the defense was “off schedule” throughout the game. Oregon finished with 10 penalties and failed on three fourth-down attempts.

“That’s not winning football,” Lanning said, according to Tyson Alger of Look Out Eugene-Springfield. “So, some things we have to clean up.”

The rule for fair catch isn’t entirely new, as the NFL has had this rule on the books since 1920, though it rarely came into play. The Los Angeles Chargers’ Cameron Dicker kicked a 57-yard fair catch kick against the Denver Broncos, marking the first successful fair catch kick in the league since 1976.

While college football used to allow it too, as it had way back before 1950, before the NCAA scrapped fair catches. Now, after 75 years, it’s back in the college rulebook.

The NCAA wanted to bring college football’s rules more in line with the NFL, giving coaches another option in tight situations. Instead of settling for a desperate play or taking a knee, teams can send out the kicker and take their shot when a fair catch gives them a chance near midfield.

What makes this option so dangerous late in a half is the mechanics of the play itself. Unlike a regular field goal, there is no line of scrimmage to defend, no offensive line to block, and defenders must stay a full 10 yards back. That means zero risk of a blocked kick or a botched snap.

Kickers can drive the ball on a much lower trajectory, adding 5 to 10 yards of extra distance. Instead of risking an intercepted Hail Mary or a sack, a head coach who gets a fair catch near midfield with two seconds left now gets a completely uncontested 60-yard shot at three points.

Oregon gets an early reality check in a messy win over Boise State

The Ducks’ season opener against the Broncos was far from perfect, as quarterback Dante Moore believes the game gave Oregon the early test it needed to address the problems on both sides of the ball.

“So we had some great plays, some bad plays,” Dante Moore said, according to Tyson Alger of Look Out Eugene-Springfield. “I’m glad this game was how it was. We’ve got a lot to learn. Thank God it wasn’t a 40- or 50-point blowout because this just shows us who we are right now and how we have to attack going into next week.”

Despite a 34-27 victory in Week 1, the Ducks dropped from second to sixth in the AP Poll, with the team focusing on cleaning up self-inflicted wounds, penalties, and run defense ahead of their Week 2 matchup against Oklahoma State.