USA TODAY International Edition
College targeting rule goes beyond defense
When heightened penalties were announced in the college football offseason for the striking of defenseless players in the head and neck, it seemed linebackers and defensive backs might have to adjust their play or risk ejection.
They aren’t the only ones, according to Michigan coach Brady Hoke.
“I know that the targeting issue is not just a defensive issue,” Hoke said Tuesday. “It’s a crack block or a block on a specialteams play where someone comes back and blindsides a guy or an interception or offensive lineman down the field or whatever.
“We tried to educate our whole team of the safety ramifications first and secondly the penalty that’s going to be pretty stiff. It’s just not a defensive problem.”
Players this summer received crash courses on a rules enforcement change that calls for automatic ejections for leading with the crown of the helmet or the hitting of a de- fenseless player above the shoulder. Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of college football officials, said he and each conference’s officiating coordinators have done more education on this issue than other years’ rules changes have required. That included distributing videos to every Football Bowl Subdivision program that showed what kind of hits are at high risk for a foul and what kind are at low risk.
“In all of FBS football last season, there were a total of 99 fouls in 800plus games,” he said. “That’s one every eight games. It’s not like it was a huge deal. I’m not at all concerned about the officials over- officiating this thing. It’s going to present itself to you in a major way. It’s not something officials are looking for. It’s something that slaps you in the face.”