Tag: targeting rule

NCAA trying to fix part of the targeting rule in college football

College football’s most controversial rule could be facing some changes in time for the 2022 season.

Ask any college football fan, player, or coach what one of the most frustrating rules in the game is and the answer will likely come back to the targeting rule. What is targeting? Who even knows, as it seems to be interpreted differently in every conference on a weekly basis. ever since its introduction to the game, in an effort to enhance the safety of the players playing the game on the field, it has been the most scrutinized and analyzed rule in the game.

It doesn’t happen often, but the NCAA deserves an ounce of credit for attempting to correct some of the biggest flaws with the rule. Allowing for a 15-yard penalty to be erased after a targeting call was overruled was a common sense decision. And, if a proposal from the Football Rules Committee is approved, more common sense changes could be on the way.

This week saw the Football Rules Committee pass a proposal that could allow for the opportunity to have a first-half suspension for a targeting violation in the previous game to be lifted. As it stands now, any player found guilty of a targeting foul is ejected from the game. But if that ejection occurs in the second half of a game, then that player is forced to sit out the first half of the following game. The intent was to place severity for violating the safety of the game with an illegal hit on an opposing player, but many have felt the punishment is overkill.

But this proposal won’t necessarily eliminate this scenario from being lifted automatically. Instead, as The Athletic reported, the proposal would allow for an appeal to be made for a carryover suspension to allow for the possibility a conference will lift the punishment. How effective this ends up being remains to be seen, but it is a clear step forward in addressing this concern with the way the rule is enforced.

The proposal, along with other potential rule changes that could be put into effect for the 2022 season, will be reviewed and voted on by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel on April 20. If approved, the targeting rule will be modified for the upcoming college football season.

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Two rules that need to be adjusted for the 2022 season

These two rules need to be re-worked in college football.

The game of college football is one of the best atmospheres. The fans, the student sections, the electric entrances to the stadium.

There is so much to love about the game but there are a few parts of the game that make you scratch your head. We can all complain about officiating but it isn’t just one conference that is worse than another. It feels that way at times because more often than not the SEC has the national stage.

While there is no clearcut answer to fix officiating at the collegiate level, there are two areas of the game that I would like to be fixed immediately. Let’s start with the one rule that I think everyone can agree on.

Fix The Targeting Rule

Auburn Tigers safety Smoke Monday (21) reacts to being called for targeting at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Georgia Bulldogs lead the Auburn Tigers 17-3 at halftime. Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

The rule itself is a good one. Players should be penalized for targeting but there needs to be some modification. Any player that is confirmed by instant replay is ejected from the game. Regardless of the believed intent was there or not. The team is penalized 15 yards and they lose that player for the rest of the game. If the guilty player is ejected in the second half, they have to sit the first half of the next game.

I think that is a bit much. The suggestion here would be to have targeting penalties put into two categories, much as they do with flagrant fouls in basketball.

Targeting 1: The player is penalized for targeting but remains in the game.

Targeting 2: The player is immediately ejected from the game and sent to the sideline. This ruling would be for clear malicious intent based on instant replay.

That rule change is better for the game of football.

Next, a rule that needs an overhaul

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