One of college football’s most controversial rules is about to be reviewed once again. The NCAA football rules committee will take another look at the targeting rules next week during its regularly scheduled meetings in Orlando. Specifically, the rules committee will discuss the possibility of having a replay official call targeting penalties from the box that are missed by on-field officials.
From a pace of game standpoint, however, this inevitably will lead to longer games, especially if the replay official sees a questionable hit, calls down to the field official to throw the penalty flag, and then reviews the hit according to procedure. Safety is great and all, but this might be too much control of a game by a person in a replay booth that does more to take away from the game than enhancing it.
The targeting rules were initiated in 2013 and has been a constant target for criticism, ridicule and frustration ever since. A lack of consistency in the calls from conference to conference, to game to game, to play to play has been the biggest problem. The rule originally kept a 15-yard penalty on the field even if an ejected player was allowed back in the game following the mandatory video review of the call. In 2014 that penalty yardage was removed upon a player’s return to the game.
The targeting rule is not the only one up for review of course. The rules committee will also be reviewing the illegal man downfield penalty. As currently constructed, offensive linemen are allowed no more than three yards downfield until a pass is thrown. A proposal last year to change that limit to one yard was tabled for discussion until this year. This has been an area of concern for many defensive coaches that believe officials have missed calls beyond the three-yard territory. Limiting linemen to one yard is believed to be easier to call, but that also does not allow for much room for the offensive linemen to work, and in fact may end up punishing offensive linemen for doing a good job of blocking.
Every rule has its pros and cons.
Other rules that will be up for review by the rules committee include:
- Having a permanent medical examiner in the press box with ability to contact on-field official about a player’s need to be medically examined
- Determining if a player sliding or giving himself up should be considered a defenseless player (this opens door for more targeting calls)
- Allowing teams to use tablets or computers on the sidelines for coaching purposes. No electronic devices are currently allowed (they are in the NFL)
If I had to take a guess which of those rules will be adopted, I’d say the replay official getting power to call targeting has a shot (it will be sold as a way to enhance player safety), a permanent medical examiner in replay booth (again, player safety) and the sideline tablets and computers (why they are not allowed now is strange).