College football’s targeting problem continues to be a very big problem

Something needs to change here.

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A wildly long weekend of college football action came to an end Monday night when an explosive Ole Miss team blew out Louisville, 43-24, in Atlanta.

While Ole Miss’ win was impressive, a lot of people will be taking away something else from this game – the fact that college football’s targeting rule is still a total a mess.

Four players were ejected in the first half for targeting calls that mostly seemed like football players making football moves. We almost saw a double-targeting call on what was a very dangerous hit by two Louisville defenders on Rebels quarterback Matt Corral. That double hit was definitely a lot more malicious than the others and deserved the swift ejection that came with the flag.

Many people on social media went crazy over most of the calls, and rightfully so – the punishment seems to be really darn harsh for what can often be a bang-bang play where there isn’t any intent by the defender to hit his opponent with the crown of his helmet.

This rule was put into place for the right reasons – to protect the health and safety of these college athletes. Nobody is arguing about making sure these players stay safe and healthy.

But the penalty does usually seem a bit harsh.

Joel Klatt, Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst, was one of many tweeting about the rule Monday night and his suggestion seems to make sense – 15 yards for your first targeting penalty, then an ejection if you get called for a second. Also, if your first targeting hit is really bad then you get tossed for that one. That all seems to make sense to me.

Former ESPN star Mike Golic offered pretty much the same suggestion as Klatt.

I’m all for player safety. We all are. But these plays need to be looked at in different ways, much like the NBA handles its flagrant fouls – one very strict punishment shouldn’t cover all of them.

There needs to be a little more leeway for the referees to make a decision to not throw a kid out of the game for something that wasn’t meant to be malicious.

Something needs to change.

Quick hits: Yankees’ top prospected tossed after home run… Michael Irvin’s very lively ‘First Take’ debut… Astros fans rightfully rip ump… And more. 

– Anthony Volpe, theYankees No. 1 prospect, got ejected from a minor league game as he crossed home plate after hitting a home run, which is something you don’t see every day.

– Michael Irvin made his debut on ESPN’s yelling show ‘First Take’ on Monday and people had lots of jokes about how much yelling he did.

– Astros fans crushed umpire Joe West after his brutal strike call ended a 9th-inning rally in San Diego on Sunday.

– This little kid’s reaction to his mom getting him a foul ball at a Padres game was so awesome.

– You need to see this incredible heads up play that Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman made over the weekend. Could be the play of the year.

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