NCAA football panel proposes changes to targeting ejections

INDIANAPOLIS — Division I football rulemakers have proposed a one-year trial rule that would allow a player disqualified for targeting for the first time to play in his team’s next game even if half the penalty is assessed, the NCAA announced Thursday.

Currently, players disqualified for targeting must sit out the remainder of the game and, if a penalty occurs in the second half, sit out the first half of the next game.

Under the proposal from the Division I Football Rules Subcommittee, a player disqualified for targeting for the second time during the season would sit out the first half of the next game. A third targeting ejection in the same season will result in the offending player sitting out the entire next game.

Targeting is forced contact with an opponent’s head or neck area in which the offensive player often uses the crown of his helmet to make contact or launches his body into the opposing player over the shoulder.

Oversight committees for the Bowl Subdivision and Championship Subdivision must approve proposals before they become official. Those committees will meet next month.

“This continues the evolution of our targeting rule and balances the significant safety impact with an appropriate penalty structure,” said AJ Eads, chairman of the rules subcommittee and vice president of football administration for the Big Ten. “We will monitor this one-year adjustment closely, and the committee believes it is important to increase progressive penalties to ensure appropriate coaching and player education.”

dress code: :

The rules subcommittee proposed that players keep their legs covered from the top of their shoes to the bottom of their pants. Players must wear the same cover style and colors for that particular game.

Players who do not comply with the rule will have to leave the game at least once and fix the problem. A team will receive a warning for the first offense.

Under this proposal, if a team has a second offense, the offending team would be given a 5-yard penalty. Any subsequent violation of the rule will result in a 15-yard penalty.

“The current look of the uniforms is clearly not meeting the expectations of the college football community,” Eads said. “It will take a collective effort by administrators, coaches and executives to communicate expectations to players and equipment managers. We believe this proposal is definitive and gives us the opportunity to implement it consistently across Division I football.”

texas Head coach Steve Sarkisian was pleased with the proposal, saying, “I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to go from police socks to pants.”

“The NFL has this rule and they fine players when they don’t meet their uniform requirements,” he said. “Are we hiring uniform police like the NFL does, and they come in and they evaluate each player and they pay them and they fine them when they fit properly? I think instead of worrying about everything from socks to pants, are we going to wear our shirts? We have T-shirts that hang down to the knees now. Lots of things, but it feels weird for it to be an issue.”

fair catch kick: :

Under one motion, a team may choose to attempt a fair catch kick after a completed or awarded fair catch. The kick will be a field goal place kick with a holder or a drop kick from the spot where the returner caught the ball. The defense will be at least 10 yards from the spot of the kick.

If the ensuing kick goes upward, it will be worth three points.

Subcommittee members believe adding the rule will bring Division I rules more in line with those of the NFL and high school football. Rarely used play comes up in NFL in 2024 when los angeles chargers‘ cameron dicker Converted from 57 yards against denver broncos.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.