The onside kick alternative

Like most of the spring football circuits that have come before it, the United Football League has several unique rules – most of which are designed to add excitement to the game and provide a different product from the NFL and college ball.

With just three weeks of its inaugural season complete, you’d have a tough time finding an innovation that has provided more drama than the UFL’s fourth-and-12 onside kick option.

In week two, the San Antonio Brahmas used the scrimmage play to retain possession and ultimately turn a 19-8 deficit to the Memphis Showboats (with just 49 seconds to go, no less) into a wild 20-19 victory.

“You look at the onside kick in the NFL and there’s a one percent chance of making it,” San Antonio coach Wade Phillips said. “It’s not a play even worth looking at. But with fourth-and-12, you have a chance. It’s not a high-percentage play, now, but we executed it. We made a great play to make the first down.

“It keeps the game exciting and gives you the opportunity to make an ‘onside kick.’ The NFL is looking at a lot of rules we’re utilizing and they ought to look at that, too. It’s exciting, that’s for sure.”

Last weekend it was the DC Defenders’ turn, flipping the script on what appeared to be a certain loss to the Arlington Renegades and changing it into a stunning 29-28 victory thanks to a fourth-and-12 conversion that set up a game-winning field goal.

“We stayed in the fight,” DC coach Reggie Barlow said. “We had to get the fourth-and-12 and my man (quarterback Jordan Ta’amu) managed that well.”

Trailing 28-26, Ta’amu hit Ty Scott on a 19-yard gainer on the onside kick alternative to give the Defenders a fresh set of downs and chance to win.

“It’s crazy,” Ta’amu said. “Everything was just so surreal. It felt like a dream.”

DC comes to Birmingham this Saturday to take on the unbeaten Stallions at Protective Stadium. And while Skip Holtz’s club has had no need for such theatrics thus far, the coach is glad the play is available.

“What we have to do now when we practice every day, is practice the 1-point play from the two, the 2-point play from the five, and the 3-point play from the 10 … and I carry probably eight to 10 plays from the five-yard line, which is more than I’ve ever carried,” Holtz said. “But you also have to then practice a fourth-and-12 play.”

As Phillips said, it’s not a high-percentage option, but it’s far better than the awkward, rarely successful onside kick.

“As far as maintaining an onside kick, really, you’re hoping for a bounce,” Holtz said. “You’re hoping for a bounce or hoping for a fumble, or you’re hoping that they misjudge it and the ball takes a crazy bounce. Otherwise, you’re not going to get it.

“I like the excitement of a fourth-and-12 play and having the opportunity to continue your drive, especially when you’re trying to make the comeback.”

The roots of the rule date back to the Alliance of American Football, which played a partial season in 2019 before folding.

There were no kickoffs at all in the AAF, with offenses starting possession at their own 25-yard line. However, if a team trailed by 17 points or there were five or fewer minutes remaining in a game, it could attempt what was called an “onside conversion.”

Just like in the UFL, it was a fourth-and-12 play from the 28.

The option was also available following a safety, only the ball was placed down at the 18 in that instance.

Last year the XFL had a fourth-and-15 play from the 25 along with the traditional onside kick.

“We haven’t had to use it yet, fortunately, because we’ve had a lead,” Holtz said. “But it is something that we practice along with the (conversion plays) every day.”