POD: In OTL, John Heisman was watching a Football match when he saw the players attempt a forward pass, despite it being against the rules at the time. The referee missed the foul, and the play went well. Heisman was always struck by it, and began a bit of a fascination with the idea of a forward play.
In the ATL, Heisman sneezes and missed the play, much as the refs did at the time.
Come the turn of the century, and there is still the continued pressure by some to ban Football, or, at least, make it a safer and more open game (in OTL, Football during this period was a game of the line, and there were few, if any, ways to open the field. As in OTL, President Roosevelt, a fan, albeit not a player, becomes involved and 'encourages' the main powers in College football to smooth the game out somewhat.
Instead of a forward pass, however, the commision takes some inspiration from Rubgy and Austrial Football and decides for a forward kick. The kick can only be performed by the quarterback and can only be done on the bounce (i.e. the Quarterback throws the ball down and, on the bounce, kicks it past the defensive line towards his receivers.)
Naturally, if the opponents catch the ball, it still counts as an interception. However, the play gives the offence a chance to really make up yardage (as per OTL, the commission adopts a fourth down, prior to the third, which had been stanard up to that time). It still remains less precise than the OTL pass. Perhaps this inspires the commission to not pass as many restrictions against the forward kick as they did against the pass in OTL (originally you could not score a touchdown on a pass, for instrance.)
How does this change the game?