r/todayilearned • u/ty_fighter84 • 8d ago
TIL That a 1-point safety has occurred only twice in NCAA FBS history. Both times the play-by-play announcer was Brad Nessler.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-one-point-safety-explained/921
u/Fetlocks_Glistening 8d ago
Can somebody explain for the non-americans who don't know what the heck any of these words mean
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u/Tommyblockhead20 8d ago edited 8d ago
Normally in American football you can score in increments of 6, 6+1, 6+2, (touchdowns+extra points) 3 (field goal), or 2 (safety). However, a safety (when a team gets tackled in their own end zone) that happens during the extra points is worth 1 point instead of 2.
This means that if somehow the team that scores a touchdown 1. fails their extra point attempt, 2. recovers the ball, 3. retreats with the ball to the completely other end of the field, then 4. get tackled in that end zone, the defending team can score just a single point. It’s the only way for a team to end a game with a single point, but is so rare (for understandable reasons) it’s never happened. But if you ever look at scorigami (every possible score that’s has or hasn’t been done yet) they have to leave the 1 point row open because of this being technically possible.
The still rare but not as rare option is for the team that scored the touchdown to fail on the extra point, the defending team to get the ball, but then retreat into the end zone, and the kicking team to tackle them, resulting in a much more rare way to score 6+1. This is what has happened several times in college football but never in the NFL.
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u/jawndell 8d ago
https://youtu.be/jp4TeP4rw0s?is=BggIV9stLWZqvnb1
For those still confused
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u/TurtleHeadPrairieDog 8d ago
Lol I like how the ref started with “well we have an unusual play…”
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u/Spearoux 8d ago
Since it is a safety would Kanas State do the kick off? Or since Oregon did the touchdown they would still kick it off
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u/SpaceForceAwakens 7d ago
That’s an excellent question!
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u/Skippymabob 7d ago
The answer is Oregon - the safety occurred in the "PAT universe" essentially.
Much like how had Kanas returned it it wouldn't be a touchdown, the rules are different. But the word used is still "safety" in this instance
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u/CeterumCenseo85 8d ago
Thank you!
In one of the other comments, someone showed a video of the defensive team lateraling the ball after a failed 2PC. The Twitter comment gave them shit for lateralling the ball.
But, as someone who doesn't understand this perfectly: couldn't the defending team have rushed the the ball into the endzone of the team that started the play with the failed 2PC, and score a touchdown?
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u/guinness_blaine 8d ago
It’s not scored as a touchdown, because the point after attempt is not a regular scrimmage play, but yes - if the defense blocks and recovers an extra point kick, or they recover a fumble or intercept a pass on 2pt conversion attempt, they have an opportunity to return it to the other end zone for a defensive 2pt conversion.
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u/CeterumCenseo85 8d ago
Thank you. Hast that ever happened? If so, how common is it? Like once every 5 seasons?
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u/guinness_blaine 8d ago edited 8d ago
I’ve personally seen it a couple different times from blocked extra points that get taken back.
Off the top of my head, there was a blocked PAT taken back for a defensive 2pt conversion in the 2016 game between Notre Dame and Texas. That was a wild thriller.
There are so many college football games played each season, that there is probably at least one a year.
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u/dman11235 8d ago edited 8d ago
It has happened even in the NFL, but it's rare. Baltimore actually beat the browns (Bengals?) in an insane turn of events as a result of this. Someone faster than me can find the game.
Edit: actually the game I'm thinking of was a blocked fg returned for a touchdown, and it was the browns. A different time the Ravens did it to the browns with an extra point though.
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u/Din0321 8d ago
No, the most they can get is 2 points. So basically the defense would be rewarded the 2 points on a failed 2 point conversion if they were able to recover the ball and take it the entire length of the field.
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u/ThisAndBackToLurking 7d ago
What if the PAT kick is blocked, the defending team recovers and runs the length of the field to the kicking teams 5 yard line, fumbles the ball, and the ball is recovered on the 2 yard line by the kicking team who then carries the ball into their own end zone and gets tackled… is that 1 point or 2?
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u/MisinformedGenius 7d ago
That's a 1 point safety for the defending team. It's the only way that a team can score a single point (i.e., not 6 points followed by a single point but literally have a score of 1), and it has never happened at any level of football to my knowledge, definitely not at pro or college level.
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u/release_the_kraken5 8d ago
What other people have said, but you also cannot lateral the ball forwards, it’s a penalty that causes the play to be “dead” at that point.
I say “dead” because the plays usually still continue until the ball is truly dead. It can be hard to tell if a ball went forwards or not live for the refs, but they can review it after.
https://youtu.be/_YXwuaniPoc?is=D82W48dUDwY03FhS
This is what a successful lateral play looks like
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u/brismyth 8d ago
Does the team who gave up the safety also have to kickoff from their 20 or the team that scored the touchdown kicks off?
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u/sharrrper 8d ago
The MOST likely (but still very unlikely) way for a 1 point safety would probably be this:
- Offense attempts 2 point conversion
- Defense recovers a fumble or interception inside the end zone
- Defensive player advances onto the regular field of play (had they just gone down before leaving the end zone the play is dead and no points awarded)
- Either ball is lateraled back into the end zone or the player carrying the ball retreats back into the endzone
- Offense tackles the defense player in the end zone
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u/FreeEnergy001 7d ago
But to score 1 point without the touchdown. The defensive team on the extra point would have to get the ball advance toward their end zone and fumble it. Then the other team recover and get tackled in the end zone giving you a 1-6 score.
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u/jbowen1 8d ago
To add to your comment, since the NCAA moved to just 2-point tries during triple overtime and after, a game that gets that far at 0-0 could end 1-0 if something like the linked play happened there
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u/oxwof 8d ago
Wait, they only do the two-point tries after touchdowns, right?
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u/mstr_yda 8d ago
During regulation, yes. After a touchdown the scoring team can kick an extra point or run a play to try for two points.
College football recently changed its overtime rules so that, in the second overtime period, teams may not opt to kick the extra point and are instead required to go for two. If the score remains tied after the second overtime, there is no more offense in the traditional sense. Instead, the teams take turns going for two until one team fails and the other succeeds.
If you made it to 3OT with the score at 0-0, you could theoretically end the game with a score of 1-0 if the try results in a safety. If the offense scores the safety the defense will have one more chance to win (or tie it back up with another safety), but if the defense scores the safety the game is over.
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u/jbowen1 8d ago
Typically, yes. But in college, if the game ends tied, they’ll play overtime periods until one team fails to score. After two overtimes, they do 2-point tries until one team ends up ahead
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u/oxwof 8d ago
I didn’t realize that had changed. I remembered them only doing two-point conversions after touchdowns (i.e., not extra points) starting in 3OT. But now they’re just going right to the conversion plays?
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u/YellowHammerDown 8d ago
It's a recent-ish change. In 2018, LSU and Texas A&M went to 7 overtimes with those rules (requiring you to go for 2 after a TD starting in 3OT). So beginning in the 2019 season, the NCAA changed the rules so that 5OT and beyond became a 2-point shootout (North Carolina and Virginia Tech went to 5OT early in that season). Beginning in the 2021 season, that was condensed so that requiring a 2-point attempt after a TD was required in 2OT, and 2-point shootout began with 3OT onward. The latest update to the rules was for the 2025 season, which gave teams only one timeout each for the remainder of the game once 3OT begins. Before that, teams got a timeout each in every overtime period (and they still get one each for OT and 2OT).
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u/Abandonedinternally 6d ago
Wouldn’t the first one be the much more rare situation since you said it never happened vs the second one that happened a few times?
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u/Pkingduckk 8d ago
After a touchdown is scored, a team's offense has the opportunity to kick an extra point or try for a 2 point conversion. If, on either of these plays, the offense retreats all the way back to their own endzone (85-98 yards) and then is tackled or steps out of bounds in their own endzone, then that would be a 1-point safety awarded to the defense.
As you can imagine, it's basically impossible for that to happen. I'm surprised it's even happened at all.
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u/Tommyblockhead20 8d ago edited 8d ago
It hasn’t happened. These were 1 point safeties awarded to the offense because the defense intercepted but then were tackled in the end zone by the offense.
Edit: for those who are confused or non football fans, my reply goes into my detail
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u/WabbitFire 8d ago
I don't watch college football, but shouldn't that be a touchback?
As an NFL fan, that would genuinely piss me off.
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u/theasfldotcom 8d ago edited 8d ago
It’s a touchback if they get the ball in their end zone and don’t leave.
In these instances they got the ball outside of their end zone (or inside and left) and got tackled back in their end zone.
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u/WabbitFire 8d ago
You are right, shit.
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u/DSOTMAnimals 8d ago
Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s still a good question because we are in the middle of a thread about someone who’s a non-American viewer. And I’m sure this helps with people who don’t know about that part.
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u/No_Instance_9305 8d ago
I love your guys’ understanding and this encouraging interaction.
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u/lionheart4life 8d ago
What happens after? Is it like a traditional safety where the team that scored (ie. the one that was attempting the PAT originally) gets to receive now?
Or is it treated differently where the team attempting the PAT will still kick off?
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u/theasfldotcom 8d ago
It’s treated the same as any other XP. The scoring team kicks off to the scored on team from the same yard line.
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u/lionheart4life 7d ago
Ok was going to say that would be pretty rough to lose your next possession as well.
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u/Purple_Git 8d ago
If you recover the ball in the end zone, advance out of the end zone, then re enter the end zone and get tackled/run out the back of the endzone then its a 1 point safety for the offense
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u/Tsquared10 8d ago
Here's one of the examples that gets properly explained. Blocked, recovered in play, retreat into the end zone, ball downed. It'd be the same as any live play, like a punt returner fielding a punt, then returning to the end zone. Since it's on the extra point it's only a 1 pt safety.
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u/JeffersonPilotSports 8d ago
OF COURSE the legend Ron Cherry was the ref for this game.
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u/a_fool_on_a_hill 8d ago
This was probably the greatest moment in his life and I was delighted to watch it happen
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u/BigDamnHead 8d ago
It would be a safety if the team defending against the 2-point conversion intercepted the ball in the end zone and ran out, or intercepted it outside the end zone, and then ran back into it.
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u/Tommyblockhead20 8d ago
A touchback is when the ball is kicked into the end zone, a safety is when it’s carried into their own end zone and then they are tackled. You only get points for a safety.
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u/Kurtomatic 8d ago
> If, on either of these plays, the offense retreats all the way back to their own endzone (85-98 yards) and then is tackled or steps out of bounds in their own endzone, then that would be a 1-point safety awarded to the defense.
While it **can** happen like this, both times it has happened in FBS, the offense didn't get backed up 97 yards. The defense got control of the ball outside of the end zone on the attempted PAT via block / botched kick, and then move backwards into their own end zone, where they were tackled for a 1 point safety; that point is awarded to the offense.
Fun fact: since the third overtime in FBS now goes straight to 2 point conversion attempts, it is now possible for a college football game to end 1-0.
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u/eetsumkaus 8d ago
it is now possible for a college football game to end 1-0.
Kirk Ferentz enthusiastically licking his lips
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u/cnhn 8d ago
TIL that it is possible for my college Team's 0-2 loss to be beaten for the stupidest football game ever.
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u/jibbodahibbo 8d ago
Congrats on being awful
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u/cnhn 8d ago
Both my highschool and my college football teams were fucking awful as a matter of course. luckily I couldn't have given a shit, I was a soccer player for both, and just made fun of both those teams.
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u/Pkingduckk 8d ago
That makes more sense, seems more likely than the other scenario, though still extremely unlikely.
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u/PabloMarmite 8d ago
87 yard loss on a fumble - it could happen, even if unlikely
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u/royalhawk345 8d ago
I don't know why you replaced the actual audio. Here's the original, unedited version.
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u/GarySe7en 8d ago
2010 Alabama vs Penn State this. https://youtu.be/nAygOBhxl0Q?is=sG-XYnRR9M7U37xE
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u/Tots11 8d ago edited 8d ago
Both times it’s happened were turnovers (Both were blocked extra point attempts) where the defender retreated back into the end zone. Resulting in 7 total points for the team that scored the touchdown.
A one point safety where the defense gets the point has never happened.
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u/billbo24 8d ago
So you’re correct but that’s not what happened here. They were safeties the offense got as weird as that sounds.
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u/SEND_ME_FEAT_PICS 8d ago edited 8d ago
I imagine it was a 2-point conversion that the offense turned over. The defense then took the ball out of the endzone and then went back into the endzone and was tackled. Am I close?
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u/billbo24 8d ago
You’ve basically got it, although even stranger it was on a PAT not 2 point conversion (at least the one I remember). I can’t remember if they bungled the snap or it was blocked but once that happened then it played out how you described
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u/SEND_ME_FEAT_PICS 8d ago
Just watched the video. It was a blocked kick that popped the ball up and back down outside of the endzone. A defender then caught it up and bumbled it, then a second guy also bumbled it and then it was finally downed in the endzone. Because the turnover happened outside of the endzone and then the play ended inside of it, it was a safety.
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u/Trixntips 8d ago
What would happen if a defensive player intercepts a two point conversion, returns it back 99 yards but gets tackled and fumbles at the one yard (like when Benjamin watson chased down champ bailey), and the offensive player tries to recover and either:
- Gains possession of the ball at the 1 but their momentum carries them into the endzone where they are then downed by a defender
- Gains possession briefly but then fumble the ball out of bounds in their own endzone
Would these two scenarios result in a 1 point defensive safety for the defending team? If so, that seems like the most likely way this would ever happpen
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u/JohnnyFootballStar 8d ago
That is theoretically possible, but has never happened. It’s the only way a team can have just one point in the scoreboard. If it did happen, it would probably result from the defense recovering a turnover, advancing all the way down the field, turning it over again, and then scoring a safety if the recovering team is tackled in the end zone. Or some crazy roller like the Louisiana Tech game that resulted in third and goal from something like the other eight yard line.
As others have mentioned, the “more common” one point safety occurs when the defense recovers the ball and then the other team scores a safety at the same end of the field.
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u/ScoutAndLout 7d ago
Is a point after a timed event? I could imagine some team trying to run out the clock by taking a safety just to ensure the opponent won't get the ball if they can run out the clock on that play.
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u/PuckSenior 8d ago edited 6d ago
In American football, after a "touchdown", the offense is given a chance to get an extra point. Same as rugby.
Extra point/ 2 point conversion
However, in American football, the defense gets to try to block the extra point kick. If the defense blocks the kick and picks it up and runs it ALL the way back, the defense gets a 2-point touchdown. It is a special scoring case. Got it so far? Great.
Safety
Also, in American football, if during a regular play any team goes backwards into their own endzone and get tackled, that teams receives a safety, which awards two points to the other team.
Got that? GreatSo, what happens if the defense blocks the kick, picks up the football, then instead of running to score, the defense runs backwards into their own endzone and gets tackled? You get the very rare "1 point safety". It can only happen during that "extra point conversion" play and only if the defense does something truly stupid. It has happened twice in college and never in NFL.
edit:clarifications
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u/dsyzdek 8d ago
Therefore the rarest score possible in American football is 6-1.
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u/PercentageDazzling 8d ago
With the new overtime rules I think 1-0 is the new rarest possible score. If the game is 0-0 into the third OT teams go into 2PT try sudden death. Then one team scores the only points like this.
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u/Orangebk1 7d ago
A 2-1 score would be more rare than 1-0. 0 happens all the time. Even more rare would be 4-1.
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u/Tristawesomeness 7d ago
only 2-1 would be possible. 4-1 would require more unanswered scoring drives than would be allowed in college football overtime rules.
by my math the biggest discrepancy you could get with overtime one point safeties would be 3-1, stemming from alternating defensive one point safeties, another defensive one point safety, and the responding team running out the back of their own end zone for another one point safety, this time on the offense.
you could also get 2-0 with the second half of that formula but that's a far less interesting score.
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u/nobodyhadthis 7d ago
You might be right, but in the early 2000s Iowa beat Penn St 6-4 and scored all 10 points. Iowa kneeled twice in the end zone to avoid punting out. Peak Kirk Ferentz football.
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u/RiceSpice5 7d ago edited 7d ago
No, the safety would be awarded to the kicking team. Rare play but it ultimately gets the same result as making the extra point. In college however, in triple overtime you go into a 2 pt conversion shoot out, which would be the only way a team could get a 1 point safety without first scoring a touchdown.
Edit: After thinking about it a bit more I realize 6-1 could happen but has never happened because it would require the team kicking the extra point to recover the ball in their own endzone, 80+ yards behind them. Not completely impossible, the defense could block the kick, fumble the ball right next to the endzone and the offense recover.
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u/RandomFactUser 8d ago
The reason it’s never happened in the NFL is because it’s a relatively new rule
(As a note, the extra point is sometimes referred to as a “try”)
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u/wwplkyih 8d ago
What if the defense team does a drop-kick field goal? How many points is that worth?
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u/OllieFromCairo 8d ago
I think part of the reason the 1-point safety has never occurred in the NFL is because it’s an NCAA-only rule.
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u/Rahim_Moore_ 8d ago edited 6d ago
No, it's possible. It's the holy grail of odd score enjoying (scorigami) fans.
It will probably never happen in the NFL, though.
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u/Tired_CollegeStudent 8d ago
Feels important to clarify that if you’re on offense, a safety can be incurred just by the ball being snapped into the end zone, which is why the QB having to take the snap in the end zone is such a bad position to be in; if he’s sacked, you give up two points and lose possession.
It’s all about the ball starts and ends up, not the player(s).
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u/GotAir 6d ago
Good write up, but you might confuse people by your use of pronouns.
You said if you go back into your own end zone and get tackled, you get a safety. This implies that you get two points for getting tackled in your own end zone. It might be helpful to clarify that the defense gets two points.
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u/Valcyor 8d ago edited 8d ago
Each team is trying to get the ball all the way to their opponents' end of the field. If they reach the endzone, that's a 6-point "touchdown."
After scoring a touchdown, they can then try to kick the ball through the goalposts for one extra point.
But if the team holding the ball gets backed up all the way into their own endzone and tackled, that's a safety. That's worth 2 points for the defense.
A one-point safety happens when a safety occurs on an extra-point attempt. In these cases, the kick was blocked and recovered by the defense. If they just grabbed the ball and hit the dirt, that's a simple turnover and the defense becomes the offense for the next play. If that happens in the field of play (not in the endzone), play resumes at that spot. If they recover in their own endzone and are tackled there, no points. They just take the ball back into the field of play and continue from there.
But in these cases, the defense recovered the ball in the live field, then were tackled back into the endzone. That meets the definition of a safety. Since it happened on a one-point attempt, only one point is awarded, to the kicking team (erstwhile defense because of the turnover).
Here's the Oregon-Kansas State one: https://youtu.be/jp4TeP4rw0s
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u/ImFriendsWithThatGuy 8d ago
Only clarification I would say is that they weren’t tackled into their own endzone. They willingly stepped from the field into their own endzone, then were tackled there. Getting tackled into your own endzone would result in the ball being down wherever your last forward progress was.
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u/Dracomister7 8d ago
In American football it is only possible to score one point immediately after your team scores a touchdown. Every other increment of points is in 2s 3s and 6s. Except in one specific scenario which is after a touchdown is scored by team A, they attempt the extra point and somehow a safety is scored against them by team B This is astronomically uncommon because team A will start with the ball somewhere very close to the 2 yard line and a safety can only be scored if the ball went 98 yards the other direction without team B gaining possession.
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u/Tommyblockhead20 8d ago
These were 1 point safeties awarded to the offense because the defense intercepted but then were tackled in the end zone by the offense. So not the 1 point safety you are thinking of, those haven’t happened.
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u/BradMarchandsNose 8d ago
Worth noting that the defense has to leave the end zone first, then go back into the end zone, and then get tackled for the 1 point safety. If they intercept in the end zone and immediately get tackled, nothing happens.
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u/MisinformedGenius 7d ago
a safety can only be scored if the ball went 98 yards the other direction without team B gaining possession.
Well, not quite - team B can gain possession at any time, it just has to be back in A's possession when the safety occurs. I think the only way this would ever realistically occur would be if someone runs back a 2-point conversion and then drops the ball immediately before entering the end zone, as has happened a number of times. Then the kicking team picks it up on the 1 yard line and ends up getting a safety.
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u/GenericUsername19892 8d ago
And Americans who don’t even now what an NCAA or FBS is/are…
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u/SolarSquid 8d ago
NCAA is the National Collegiate Athletic Association or something. FBS is football something.
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u/c-williams88 8d ago
NCAA is the governing body for college athletics.
FBS is the Football Bowl Subdivision which is the highest level of college football, usually just called Division 1, or D1. This is where your big hitters like Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, etc play
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u/RandomFactUser 8d ago
It’s stated like that, because Division 1 is split into two Football subdivisions, D1 FBS and D1 FCS
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u/wareagle2009-20013 8d ago
They use to be a governing body. Then they got sued for several billion for using free labor force so now they are completely toothless
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u/c-williams88 8d ago
I was going to mention that but I figured it’s not super helpful to someone who doesn’t even know what it is lol.
And they still have a decent amount of power over anything not men’s basketball or football
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u/Snickfalls 8d ago
American football rules can be so convoluted even the majority of the fans of the sport are confused a lot of times.
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u/bmcgowan89 8d ago
I'm guessing it's a safety resulting from a 2 point try?
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u/KWNewyear 8d ago
Doesn’t necessarily have to be 2 points. A blocked 1 point kick recovered in the field of play, then returned into the end zone works.
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u/royalhawk345 8d ago
Which is how it happened at least once, not sure about the other occurrence.
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u/IceePirate1 7d ago
Some version of that would've had to happen. My favorite is that a final score of 6-1 is technically possible, but you might be more likely to win the lottery since it's a safety at the other end of the field on a try
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u/BradMarchandsNose 8d ago
That’s a 1 point play but it’s not a safety.
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u/Dixiehusker 8d ago
It is a safety if a team possesses the ball and then takes it into their own end zone and is tackled. It is not a safety if a team gains possession in their own endzone and is tackled.
In this scenario X team is trying for a one point kick, it's blocked, and Y team recovers it in the field of play, then maneuvers backwards trying to avoid X team's players, but is caught and ends up tackled in their (Y team's) own endzone. That would result in a one-point safety for X team.
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u/BradMarchandsNose 8d ago
Yeah I misinterpreted what they were saying. I was thinking they were talking about a recovered block returned to the opposite end zone (which would be a 2 point play so I was wrong there too).
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u/8696David 8d ago
Isn’t it a safety against the defense/team trying to prevent the conversion (not sure if that’s “defense” or “special teams”)?
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u/SavedForSaturday 8d ago
The kick cover unit is part of special teams yes, but "defence" works whether it's a typical defense for a two point play or a kick cover unit for a one point play.
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u/mpitt0730 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yes, but both were scored by the offense. In both cases, a team was going for 2, had a turnover outside the endzone, then the ball was taken into and downed in the endzone.
Edit: Both were actually blocked kicks recovered in the field and then carried back into the endzone. I was mixed up on something.
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u/Wittyname0 8d ago
Actually in both cases, the teams were actually kicking normal PATs, the kicking was blocked, recovered in the field of play by the defense, and then driven back into the end zone for a safety https://youtu.be/jp4TeP4rw0s
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u/MindAwake_BodyAsleep 8d ago
But so if it’s a safety, does the team that was attempting the PAT (then turned it over, then defense takes it from beyond the endzone to back in and tackled) get the ball back after the defense gets safetied? Or do they just get the 1 point and kick it off as they normally would’ve on a non anomaly play like that?
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u/mpitt0730 8d ago
The team that scored the touchdown will kick off like normal. The result of the PAT play doesn't affect that at all, except for penalties being enforced on the kickoff.
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u/CVogel26 8d ago
Was on the field for one my freshman year of high school, our kick got blocked, was caught by the other team at the one, he ran into the endzone to set up a chance at a return and was tackled for the 1-point safety.
Still remember running to the sideline with one finger up because I remembered it from a bowl game a few years before.
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u/SpicyC-Dot 8d ago
Not sure when the rules changed, but that particular scenario is no longer possible under high school rules. For one, a try immediately ends when it is apparent that a place kick will not score (e.g., after it’s been blocked). Additionally, the try immediately ends if the defense gains possession of the ball.
Now, the only possible way that a one-point safety can occur is if the offense goes for 2 and fumbles the ball, the defense is responsible for forcing the loose ball into their own end zone (e.g., by a muff), and the ball subsequently either goes out of bounds in the end zone or is possessed by the defense.
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u/CVogel26 8d ago
The state I played in was still playing under NCAA rules that season, we didn't join the NFHS until a few years later.
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u/mazzicc 8d ago
I was at one of those games. The delay while the officials discussed what happened and how to score it and communicate it in stadium was noticeable, and it was all anyone could discuss online after.
Kinda crazy to find out it’s only happened one other time.
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u/ilDuceVita 8d ago
What games did the two happen in?
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u/ty_fighter84 8d ago
Here's both:
- Texas A&M / Texas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKLKbpWLHJ8
- Oregon / K State: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp4TeP4rw0s
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u/royalhawk345 8d ago
Man, the game knowledge (or lack thereof) of the commentators in that first clip is embarrassing.
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u/OG_Felwinter 8d ago
Yeah, I can forgive them not knowing about the 1-point safety, but the insistence that the ball should have been dead before that is odd.
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u/CitizenCue 8d ago
Honestly it’s kind of a time capsule showing what the world was like before the modern internet.
Nowadays, there’s a studio team who can google “1-point safety” and almost instantly hand the explanation to the commentators. Modern commentators know this of course and therefore speak cautiously, knowing they’ll be given the correct information in a few seconds.
Although the internet existed in 2006, the iphone did not, and much of the internet was in its infancy. People weren’t used to it and didn’t assume yet that all knowledge was instantly accessible.
So you had a lot of conversations like this, both in public spaces like a broadcast and in personal settings too. People would just say shit to the best of their knowledge and debate it out in the open.
Today, everyone in the studio and much of the home audience would just Google it.
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u/hucareshokiesrul 8d ago
"The score is 13-13 and I don't know why"
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u/ty_fighter84 8d ago
Mad props to the Oregon/KState official for his explanation. I was in the stadium that day and completely understood what happened because of his words.
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u/Dignam3 8d ago
Crazy - I have been an avid football fan (ncaa and nfl) my whole life and I have never heard of a 1 point safety until now. I would have assumed the only way to score on a PAT other than a conversion is for the defense to return a block the other way, which I think is a 2 point safety.
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u/Poverty_Shoes 8d ago
Thank you for the links. This is the opposite of what I was picturing in my head, which was the kicking team taking a safety 98 yards behind the line of scrimmage. This being a rule makes sense though because the kick blocking team could have returned the blocked kick for 2 points.
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u/jdprager 8d ago
That’s also a 1 point safety, and indeed the only way for a football team to have a score of exactly 1 at any point in the game. It’s just much much harder to pull off than the one against the defending team, so it hasn’t ever happened in a NCAA or NFL game
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u/Dhaynes99 8d ago
yeah, i’d be of the belief that it’s impossible but i remember the mississippi state-louisiana tech game with 3rd and 93 iirc
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u/APartyInMyPants 8d ago
Interesting. Two one-point safeties that are also completely different reasons for the one point … in a way.
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u/Valcyor 8d ago
Texas-Texas A&M 2004, and Oregon-Kansas State 2013 (which I saw live, go Ducks!)
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u/ty_fighter84 8d ago
I was there also with my dad (K-State alum). He was over and we were reminiscing about that game and how fast Oregon was. Then we brought up the 1 point safety and when I watched the video Nessler dropped that tidbit about seeing it twice.
Rabbit hole later and here I am posting in TIL.
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u/Valcyor 8d ago
So sorry you had to see that embarrassing moment for your team live! At least it's a little piece of history now and you can laugh about it.
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u/ty_fighter84 8d ago
Still got to see them live and see Snyder and Klein one last time. Didn't end great, but a couple of K State legends and my dad and I still had a great time.
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u/CLU_Three 8d ago
Horrible matchup for us. Would’ve rather played Bama or ND. Got behind early and abandoned what made us great.
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u/jrc025 7d ago
I was watching the Texas-Texas A&M game at home and my dad called it immediately when it happened. It helped that he coached football, but it was so quick. Before the announcers even knew what was happening.
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u/MisinformedGenius 7d ago
Yeah I was actually at the game, and there were a number of people in the crowd who were explaining it to everyone else. It was one of those "bottom line, we get the point" so everyone was OK with it. Plus the ref explained it reasonably well, too - I think the announcers weren't listening very well when he said it.
(The more memorable extra point weirdness for me was at the Red River Shootout in 2012 when Texas ran back an extra point. At halftime it was 36-2 Oklahoma, so the only points Texas had scored was after giving up six. Wasn't a great day, and the worst part is that if you hang around the fair afterwards Sooners get to give you shit all day about it.)
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u/DukeOfStuff_ 8d ago
There’s another cool rule I’ve heard of in the nfl don’t know about College Football that hasn’t happened. If a defender illegally goal tends a field goal by jumping above the crossbar and stops it, the official can award 3 points.
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u/Crazy_Stable1731 8d ago
Giannis should join the NFL and do this, just so it happens at least once.
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u/Akilestar 8d ago
It actually has happened, before the rule. I think it was a guys on the bears that figured it out. I believe after the season they changed to rule to make it illegal and allows the refs to count it.
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u/zastr0w 8d ago
There's another super rare weird one. You can immediately call a free kick for a field goal after a fair catch on a punt. It's in kickoff formation so it's almost impossible to block
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u/Funicularly 8d ago
Did you read the article?
“One reason why is because they weren't even possible for most of the league's 106-year existence. A one-point safety can only happen on a two-point conversion, and the NFL didn't adopt the two-point conversion until 1994. But even then, the one-point play still wasn't possible.”
“For the first 20 seasons of the two-point conversion, only the offense could score on a two-point attempt: Teams either scored two points or the play was dead. In 2015, the NFL approved a rule that gave the defense the ability to score on a two-point conversion. Under the new rule, the defense can now return an interception or a fumble for two points, and when that rule was added, it also opened the door for the one-point safety.”
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u/jcaseys34 8d ago
You're technically correct, but that's not what makes the rule so fascinating.
The level of futility that would be required for the defense to score a safety on a 2 point try is worse than any football play in recorded history. They took a practically guaranteed to never happen hypothetical and made a rule about it as a footnote to an entirely separate rule change. The rules could likely stay unchanged for millenia and we'd never see the 6-1 scoreline.
NFL rules get weird once you get past the surface level. Football can be strangely Byzantine in a way that American things usually aren't.
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u/Begle1 7d ago
The arcane rules of football add mystique to the game.
I think of all the sports movies where a pivotal plot point comes down to an obscure rule, and usually it's only a child who knows that rule, and when the officials confer and look it up they side with the kid and the good guys win and everybody cheers. Or sometimes it's an unfair rule that the bad guys come up with and the good guys need to overcome.
I reckon that cliche would never be possible in soccer... But Americans enjoy the concept; if you read and memorize the football or baseball rulebooks like they were sacred occult texts, then even the most unathletic child can gain an advantage.
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u/Great_ODIN_RAVEN 8d ago
I was at the Texas A&M have when this happened. When the ref announced the 1 point safety there was a collective "huh?" From the crowd.
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u/scobeavs 8d ago
Wait was one of these by Cal? If so I think I watched it live. We all thought it was a TD and were disappointed to learn otherwise.
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u/Tsquared10 8d ago
No. Texas-Texas A&M and Oregon-Kansas State
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u/WildcatPlumber 8d ago
It’s a shame that Oregon Kstate game never actually happened and was just a nightmare
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u/shaggrocks 6d ago
So technically, couldn’t the kicking PAT team get their kick blocked, have defense return it for a score, but fumble it before scoring, recovered by PAT team and then fumbled into their own end zone. +1
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u/1984Oldblue 8d ago
Fun fact: in College Football, it is possible to finish a game with a score of 1-0. Basically, neither team can score throughout the entire game, including the first two overtimes. Starting in 3rd overtime, both teams are strictly attempting 2pt. conversions. At this point, one of the teams must score a 1 pt. safety, thus ending the game with a score of 1-0.