The situation arose in last night’s game for our arch rival. They punted from the end zone without any trouble, but it’s one where I probably would have taken the safety.
Their offense was getting nothing done (they finished with negative 15 yards rushing). A blocked punt TD would have effectively ended the game.
If you give the points and take the free kick, then my team starts from further down the field. A FG ties the game (and in HS OT from the 10 yard line, scoring is easier) and a TD still wins it.
It seemed like the situation made for a safety.
As it worked out, it didn’t matter. But it could have gone badly for them (good for us).
The game ended 7-6.
I see your point - interesting situation. And you would think that a coach could see the advantage to that strategy - but you never know how a coach is thinking. We had a bad few minutes in our game last week against TCU when our OC called a time out, then Tubby (not a fan) called another one (using our LAST time out) immediately after because he didn’t agree.... fans were not happy. It worked out but sure was tense for awhile.