NCAA tweaks wedge rule

By Matt Tait     Apr 16, 2010
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Kickoff returns in college football could have a new look beginning with the 2010 season.

Thursday, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a proposal to eliminate wedge-blocking formations from special-teams play.

According to the NCAA Football Rules Book, a wedge is defined as two or more players aligned shoulder-to-shoulder within two yards of each other during kickoff returns.

The rule change, which prohibits wedges of three or more players, comes after growing concerns about safety in kickoff coverage. The NCAA Web site indicates that one of every five injuries that occur on kickoffs results in a concussion.

For the Kansas University football team, the increase in safety figures to be the only area of impact.

“I have never been a wedge person, so it won’t be a real big deal for us,” KU special-teams coordinator Aaron Stamn said. “It will be a lot safer for our kids now. There have been some pretty nasty collisions in the past. I agree with the rule change, and I am glad they are doing something about it.”

Any violation of the new wedge rule will result in a 15-yard penalty.

In other football news from the NCAA Thursday:

  • The same panel ruled that, beginning with the 2010 season, players no longer will be allowed to post symbols or messages on their eye black.
  • The PROP also approved a proposal that will turn unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties into live-ball fouls beginning in 2011. The Web site provided the following example: “If a player makes a taunting gesture to an opponent on the way to scoring a touchdown, the flag would nullify the score and penalize the offending team from the spot of the foul.”
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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.