NCAA’s new football rules include ejections for targeting hits

The NCAA Football Rules Committee has proposed changes to two rules, changing how targeting and defensive substitutions are handled, the organization announced Wednesday.

The first proposal is an attempt to change the targeting rule, which caught fire in its first year last season. The rule change would eliminate one of the main complaints -- under the original rule, a targeting call (and ejection) overturned by the replay booth would still result in a 15-yard penalty. This proposal would eliminate the 15-yard penalty if the targeting call is overturned.

Among this year’s new college football rules, the most controversial is the one that requires officials to eject players for targeting an opponent’s head during a hit. Everyone agrees more must be done to protect players against brain injury, but few can agree on exactly what such a hit looks like in all cases.

At both SEC and ACC media days, conference officiating representatives have tried to explain the range of plays that would lead to ejection, citing a range of video evidence and answering questions. The hit referenced by ACC officiating coordinator Doug Rhoads is one you might’ve heard of:

Entering 2013, the NCAA enacted a new rule, aimed to prevent headshots, which would eject any player flagged for a banned helmet-to-helmet hit. Critics worried it would lead to excessive ejections, but it did appear to be the kind of rule that’s needed, inconveniences or not. But nobody expected to see it in play in a spring game.

Mincy ranked third among all Auburn defensive backs in tackles last year.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a new rule on Thursday, in which players that target and hit defenseless players above the shoulders will be ejected as a result. The previous penalty for targeting was a 15-yard personal foul penalty, which will still be assessed on top of the ejection going forward. If a player is ejected in the first half of a game, he will miss the remainder of it, but if it occurs in the second half, he will also miss the first half of the following game.

The decision to eject the player will be reviewable, and can be overturned if the replay official can find conclusive evidence that the player did not deserve to be ejected. The conferences can also review the penalty after the game, and add or reduce sanctions or suspensions as needed.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee will propose a rule on ejecting players who target hits above the shoulders against defenseless players. Ty Halpin of NCAA.org has more on the story.

Under the new rule, any targeting of a player that doesn’t come below the shoulders will result in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic ejection. The previous consequence of such a play was simply a 15-yard penalty. The proposal will be reviewed on March 6.

Targeting is currently defined by the NCAA as follows: