Deferring when they win the coin toss

[kchats]

Can somebody please explain to me why NDSU and their opponents have deferred when winning the coin toss to start the game? It seems to me that deferring is like losing the coin toss since the other team usually takes the ball. I don't really understand the strategy behind deferring especially when at home in the dome where there is no weather benefit.

[BisonCountry]

1.) Hope your defense can stop them 3 & Out thus giving you better field position for your first offensive series.

2.) You get the ball to start 2nd Half.

[coloradobison]

when you are at home, you are hoping the crowd is really noisy and the other team is a little rattled and goes 3 and out and you get the ball quickly and in good feild position, as stated above me. Also, when you get the ball in the second half, you have the opportunity to come out and make a statement on offense.

[swaghook]

I prefer seeing them make a statement on offense with the first drive of the game.

[gwendel]

Time was they did just that, Swaghhook.

I'm no expert on the subject. Maybe a player or former player or coach who is in the know can explain it.

But it seems to me the coin toss has become irrelevant. Now it seems like deferring is considered a courtesy to the other team. Sportsmanship or something.

So, in effect, winning the toss does mean you lost it.

But it probably is also an admission that while making a statement on the first play of the game is important, making a statement on the first play of the 2nd half is just as often critically important to the outcome of the game. How many football games have you seen turn around when the team that got fewer points in the first half comes out on fire in the second half and goes on to win the game?

It's a toss-up. (Pun intended.)

[Bisonguy]

Bohl explained why a team chooses what on the coin toss last year on the Craig Bohl show.

If the team thinks their defense can do well, they typically will defer. That way, as stated by others, the offense should get good field position, and get the ball to start the second half.

[Rodentia]

Deferring to the second half does seem to be in vogue in college football these days. There are plusses and minuses. If you can get a 3-and-out, that's a plus for deferring. You probably will get the ball back on the punt in decent field position. On the other hand, if you can score on the first posession of the game, that really set the tone of the game. Even a couple first downs on the first drive can affect the field position for a good chunk of the game. If the opponent tends to need a little while to get their offense losened up, I would defer. If their offense is 100% from the first play, I would recieve.

[bisonmike]

I do it all the time in Madden and NCAA. Put your defense on the field stuff them and get ball in the 2nd half.

[Former_Hitman]

You have many options if you win the coin toss:

1. Take The ball
2. Defer until 2nd half
3. Choose to kick
4. Choose a side to defend.

In all my playing days "defer until 2nd half" is most popular.

In a outside stadium on a windy day, deferring until 2nd half and choosing a side so you get the wind to your back is a good choice, also.

[Tatanka]

In the Dome, deferring to the second half allows the Bison to pin the opposing team in the south end near the (always loud) student section. Notice how that's always the direction they choose, and how it's always the opposite if the opponent chooses... :-/

[silkamilkamonico]

Are you guys sure deferring to the second half doesn't mean, they will choose in the second half?

If the Bison defer, they have the choice in the second half if they

1)want the ball
2)want to kick
3)choose side

Usually a team that defers will take the ball, but if it's a field possesion game that is dominated by defense, or terrible weather where they aren't moving the ball, or even alot of wind for the fourth quarter, the team that defers has that option of whatever they want in the second half.

[99Bison]

I believe you are correctly silk.

[northcountry]

One of the reasons (besides those already stated) that I tell our captains to defer is because it gives you the chance to get the ball one extra time. If the opponent chooses to defend a goal in the first half, you get the ball and the option of taking the ball again to start the second half.

[bisonaudit]

NorthCountry, good point, as it applies to outdoor games. When weather conditions make the choice of which goal to defend worth as much or more than an additional pos. the coin toss decisions become a vital part of the game. When playing inside though the importance of the coin decisions is not a big a part of the game.

[MJones]

Stop the presses and let me explain.

Real football is not like madden. There is not automatic, If I choose to kick in the first half, I get the ball in the second half. The choices are mutually exclusive.

Ultimatly by defering the coin toss, all you are really saying is that I want to kick the ball in the first half, and want recieve the ball after half time because it make the other team have to make the choice in the first half.

[kchats]

That is what I said by deferring you are basically saying you want to lose the coin toss because you want to kickoff. Why not just choose to kickoff then instead of just deferring? It yields the same result.

[somebison]

That is what I said by deferring you are basically saying you want to lose the coin toss because you want to kickoff. *Why not just choose to kickoff then instead of just deferring? *It yields the same result.

no it doesn't, by deferring you get the choice in the second half, whereas by choosing to kick the opposing team will get the choice in the second half, and will likely take the ball. therefore you will kick at the beggining of both halves.

[kchats]

So you are saying that the team that wins the toss chooses what he wants to do at the beginning of the game and the other team chooses what he wants to do after halftime. If a team kicks off to open a game by choice I would think that that means they receive after halftime.

I guess I need to read up on my rules. :-/

[somebison]

So you are saying that the team that wins the toss chooses what he wants to do at the beginning of the game and the other team chooses what he wants to do after halftime.

Correct, I have seen teams kick off at the beginning of both halves in HS and College. :)

[kchats]

Here are the NFL rules:



Digest of Rules

Coin Toss
1. The toss of coin will take place within three minutes of kickoff in center of field. The toss will be called by the visiting captain before the coin is flipped. The winner may choose one of two privileges and the loser gets the other:

(a) Receive or kick

(b) Goal his team will defend

2. Immediately prior to the start of the second half, the captains of both teams must inform the officials of their respective choices. The loser of the original coin toss gets first choice.

I guess I never realized the make another choice at halftime. I always thought the team that didn't get the ball originally got the ball.

So theoretically if your defense is dominating play you you have great special teams you could defer at the beginning of the game and the other team receives and then you stop them quickly for a punt and get great field position and then choose to kickoff again in the second half and do the same thing.

[bisonaudit]

The NFL rules, as I read them here, don't allow the winner of the toss to defer their choice to the second half.

The college rules do.

"Rule 3 Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions
Section 1. Start of Each Period
Article 1.
a. The winner of the toss shall choose one of the following options for the first or second half at the beginning of the half selected:

1. To designate which team shall kick off.
2. To designate which goal line his team shall defend.

b. The loser shall choose one of the options for the half the winner of the toss did not select.

c. The team not having the choice of options for a half shall exercise the option not chosen by the opponent."



So, here are three questions that are answered at the toss.

1) Choose now or defer to the 2nd half?
2) Do you want to determine possession or choose a goal to defend?
3a) Kick or Recieve? 3b) North or South?