Saban: Spotting kicks not uncommon</font>
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ESPN.com news services
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. --
Alabama coach Nick Saban said his kickers will not use tape to spot field goals and extra points from now on.
After reviewing video of
South Carolina's
20-6 loss to Alabama (No. 2 BCS, No. 1 AP) last week, Gamewieners coach
Steve Spurrier pointed out Leigh Tiffin's use of the white tape to spot
his kicks and reported it to the Southeastern Conference. The video
showed Tiffin quickly putting the tape in his pocket after kicking,
Spurrier said.
Spurrier said on Wednesday that he was told by the conference that what Tiffin did was against the rules.
Saban said he didn't know Tiffin was using the tape and said it isn't
worth risking a 5-yard penalty. However, he says Tide coaches
have found Tiffin wasn't alone in spotting the ball.
"We certainly don't want our players to do anything that's illegal,"
Saban said. "It is a 5-yard penalty if you do anything to enhance the
spot. We've done some research on it, and over half the teams in the
league do something with it.
"They put grass there or a piece of mud or wherever it is, so the
kicker knows where the ball's going to be spotted. We even saw
verification where last year South Carolina's kicker did it."
Tiffin hit both extra points and field goals of 25 and 35 yards in
Alabama's win Saturday. He also missed a 49-yarder. The senior is
9-of-11 on field goals and 21-of-23 on PATs this season.
Spurrier stopped short of accusing Alabama coaches of
intentionally breaking the rule.
"I heard that was not supposed to happen, you're not supposed
to use anything like that," Spurrier said. "I guess Alabama
didn't know it was against the rules. They said you're not supposed
to use anything to spot the ball there. I don't know if they knew
it was illegal or legal but they dang sure did it last week. It
looked funny watching the tape. Maybe they thought it was
permissible. Maybe the kicker did it on his own. I don't know."
The NCAA football rulebook (Rule 6-3; Article 10; subsection d) says:
"Any device or material used to mark the spot of a scrimmage place kick or elevate the ball makes the kick illegal."
The exception to the 5-yard penalty is a kicking tee for kickoffs. Otherwise, it is a live-ball foul and a 5-yard penalty.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.