B is not the scoring team when A gives up a safety. Rather, the points are "awarded to" B, almost like a penalty. See 8-1.

Since B is not the scoring team, A is not the scored upon team. Instead, the team that gives up the safety by rule must free kick to the other team. The usual options of the scoring team do not apply.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me.

You guys are making this way harder than it is. There is no designating after a safety. Also the free kick after a safety is not a kickoff.

8-3 ART. 9 . . . After a try, the opponent of the scoring team shall designate which team will kick off.

8-4 ART. 2 . . . After a field goal, the opponent of the scoring team shall designate which team will kick off.

Are you sure? Jerry Markbriet makes a reference to the "new" fair catch rule when he made a Big 10 crew in the mid-60s. He missed a call in a game related to the FC.

I know the Nelson book says what you said, but I'm wondering if he's mistaken.

Not Nelson, but a booklet by John Williams, published by NCAA for the 100th anniversary (1976) of the original intercollegiate football rules committee. It had appendices detailing all the changes of the two most frequently amended provisions to that time, that dealing with the fair catch and that dealing with substitution. It was rare that long went by without changes regarding the fair catch, so I'm sure Jerry Markbreit was right about there being a new fair catch rule in the middle 1960s. Many of the changes had to do with the details of signaling for one. Interestingly, not long after the booklet came out, the provisions for fair catches in NCAA stopped being frequently changed.