Bowl Game coin toss observation

I saw this happen twice today and I'm baffled. Maybe I'm missing something. Help me out.

At he coin toss at the Cap One bowl and just now at the Sugar bowl, the team that won the coin toss deferred. In both instances, the referee then turns to the other team and says, "Do you want the ball?" Huh? Do they somehow have a choice? What if they said, "No, we'd like to defer until the second half." Are both of these refs just idiots or is this some new protocol? I'm used to the ref asking the coin toss loser which end of the field they'd like to defend in these instances after the winner has deferred.

Did anyone else notice this?

 

the other team can choose ball or field direction.
choosing field direction is just plain stupid, because then the team that won the toss will get ball 1st AND have choice in 2nd half.

so, it is possible (although I've only seen it twice in my life) for the same team to receive at the start of both halves.

 

I can remember at least two occasions that LSU has made this mistake and ended up kicking off both halves.

Bradie James was the captain on one, I cant remember the other, but it was in the Dinardo days.

 

that would be the only two times I remember seeing it.

the 1st was either end of (expletive) or beginning of DiNardo era.
pretty sure the 2nd was during the time Bama's coach was here.

 

So you are saying that if a team wins the coin toss and defers receiving the kickoff until the second half, the other team (coin toss loser) can choose to kickoff to them anyway to begin the game but will also kick off to them again to begin the second half?

 

on a coin toss, you can choose ball, or which side you want to defend.
when you defer, you're deferring your choice to the 2nd half.

so in essence, you're giving the other team their choice of ball or field direction in 1st half, and you choose in 2nd half.

most teams wisely take the ball in this instance, because the other team will obviously want in in the 2nd half.

but every now and then, you get an idiot who chooses to pick field direction instead of the ball.
so the team that won the toss gets ball 1st.

2nd half rolls around, captains meet at midfield, and team that deferred now gets to choose if they want ball, or defend a particular endzone.
99 outa 100 times, they're gonna take the ball.

 

This happens for two reasons.

The coach says we want to play defense first if we get to choose.

The player speaking for the team makes a mistake and chooses to kick, thinking he did what he was told.

Or, they win the toss and say we will kick, instead of we defer.

 

nah, because if this happens, kick is your choice, and you will get ball at beginning of 2nd half.

what probably went down was like this:

coach: if we win toss, we want to defend the North endzone.

(other team wins toss, and defers)

ref: do you want ball, or field direction?
player: we want to defend the North endzone

coach: dammit!

 

Yep. You are right.

I mis speaked.

That is what happens when you end up kicking both halves.

 

Gotcha. Thanks.