FSU can be mad about this targeting penalty, but it was the correct call

No. 22 Florida State won at NC State on Saturday, 24-20. But it came at a bit of a price, because FSU reserve defensive end Brian Burns was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter. He’ll sit for the first half of the Seminoles’ next game as a result.

The NCAA decided this season to deem sliding ball-carriers, giving themselves up, as “defenseless” players. On the play that drew Burns’ ejection, Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley was sliding to the ground. Now, let’s read part of the NCAA’s targeting rule:

No player shall target and make forcible contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent ... with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulder.

Here’s Burns’ shoulder hitting Finley’s head, forcibly:

Also note that Finley’s head bounces off the ground after Burns hits him. That surely didn’t help the defensive end’s case.

For there to be a targeting penalty, there has to be at least one targeting “indicator.” The NCAA mentions launching, thrusting upward, lowering the head, and leading with the helmet, shoulder, fist, forearm, hand, or elbow. It also says targeting indicators aren’t “limited” to those, though. The rule gives officials a lot of leeway.

Was Burns “targeting” Finley’s head with his shoulder? I’m not sure he was. But the targeting rule also stipulates that if something like that’s in question, officials are to call the penalty. So Burns is in a sticky situation, whether he intended to make a head hit or not. It doesn’t look like he means anything by this hit, but the rule is the rule.

Florida State fans might be mad about this, and it’s hard to blame them. Burns didn’t do anything awful. From afar, we can see nothing even resembling ill intent.

But his shoulder hit a sliding quarterback’s head, and Burns got caught up in a rule that’s designed to be highly protective of ball-carriers’ heads. That’s a shame for Burns, but in this system, it’s hard to argue about.