There are some new rules on special teams this year in college football. On an onside kick, the return team can fair catch a one-bounce, high-hopper.

Punt returners will be protected by a modified "halo," an 18-inch area in front and to the side of the returner. In past years, a defender could run right past the returner without touching him.

In addition, the ball will be kicked off from the 35-yard line instead of the 30 as the NCAA follows the NFL’s lead in trying to reduce kickoff collisions and concussions. But the flip side of that decision is touchbacks will be placed at the 25-yard line instead of the 20.

Because of that, Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson said, the best plan may not be to bang the ball through the end zone.

"A lot of people are wondering whether they should put more hang time under it and put it a couple yards deep (in the end zone), or just hit it out the back," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "If you hit it high a couple of yards deep, it puts the returner in the mind-set of: 'Should I return it? What do I do?' "

Although the NFL opted not to move touchbacks to the 25 when it moved its kickoffs up last season, it can still shed some light on this topic. A study that comprised the first 14 weeks of the 2011 NFL season found that kickoffs reached the end zone 82.2 percent of the time, an increase of 39.9 percent over 2010. Touchbacks occurred 45.6 percent of the time as opposed to 18.3 in 2010, suggesting that many returners (and their coaching staffs) opted to play it safe on the deeper kicks, rather than risk being tackled inside their own 20.

However, the average kickoff return in 2011 was 23.9 yards -- 1.2 yards better than 2010, perhaps suggesting slightly better decision making and better protocols when opportunities arose.

It will be interesting to see if college coaches play it safe when the possibility of starting drives at their 25-yard line is dangled in front of them.

Stanford’s new special teams coach Pete Alamar told the Chronicle the kicking team's decision will depend on where the game is played (altitude and weather are among the factors) and how dangerous the return man is. A touchback at least eliminates a scoring possibility, he said.

"You've got 11 guys covering vertically 65 yards of field and width-wise, 53 yards," he said. "That's a lot of space. Would I give up five yards to take away the possibility of a score? You wouldn't mind that trade-off."

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