Touchback - Differences

Differences

A special rule applies in college football and the NFL with regard to field goal attempts. If a missed field goal occurs in these leagues, where the other team receives possession of the ball depends on the spot from which the ball has been kicked. In NCAA football, the ball will be placed either on the twenty or the line of scrimmage of the play in which the attempt was made; in the NFL, either the twenty or the place from which the ball was kicked. (In either case, the ball goes to the spot which is further from the goal line.) The purpose of this rule is to discourage low-percentage, long-range field goal attempts and to deemphasize the advantage which can accrue when only one team has a kicker who has a reasonable possibility of success from a great distance. In American high school football (except in Massachusetts and Texas, which use college football rules), the missed field goal, regardless of where attempted on the field, results in a touchback as long as the attempt breaks the plane of the goal line, and in arena football, the field goal is treated as if it were a punt.