MDHigh.com - Just go for it! A case against punting

November 5, 2009

Special to MDHigh

Associated Press

Virtually every time the Pulaski Academy Bruins face fourth down, the prep school team from Little Rock, Ark., goes for it. No matter the distance.

And here's the thing - the strategy works.

Coach Kevin Kelley and his Bruins won the state championship in Arkansas' third-largest classification last season and did not punt. This year, they are 7-2 with one punt - the other team was so surprised the ball went 51 yards with no return.

"I'm really a contrarian thinker. When everybody thinks something is going to happen it often times doesn't," Kelley said in a recent phone interview with the AP. "It's the same in football. When everybody thinks you should do something, maybe there's a better way."

The vast majority of college coaches wouldn't think for a second about bagging the kicking game (Pulaski has pretty much stopped trying field goals, too) and playing offense with all four downs, all the time.

"I'd get run out of Dodge," said Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who has been second-guessed for more than one fourth-down call.

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