Report: NCAA committee to recommend eliminating carry-over suspension for first targeting offense

The NCAA football rules committee is set to recommend eliminating the carry-over suspension for the first targeting offense, Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported. That means if a player gets called for targeting in the second half of a game, he would not have to miss the first half of the next game if it’s his first time committing the penalty.

The recommendation will not become final until Thursday and requires approval from the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. However, Dellenger reported members of that committee support the change.

In addition, the expectation is the rules committee will recommend a stronger penalty for a second targeting offense. Currently, players ejected for targeting three times in a season receive an automatic one-game suspension.

Under the rule, ejected players are available for the next game if the foul occurs in the first half, while those in the second half sit out the first half of the following matchup. Teams also receive a 15-yard penalty for the personal foul.

The targeting rules for second-half ejections had a major impact on this past season’s College Football Playoff. Miami defensive back Xavier Lucas was ejected in the second half of the Fiesta Bowl against Ole Miss, meaning he had to sit out the first two quarters of the national championship game against Indiana.

The penalty was Lucas’ first for targeting this year. That means, under the NCAA football rules committee’s proposal, he would have been able to play for the entire national title matchup against Indiana.

The call itself drew scrutiny as some college football analysts called for a reversal, rather than upholding it. But to David Pollack, it was an opportunity to spark change to the targeting rule as a whole.

“The rule sucks (and it) needs to be addressed,” Pollack said. “In the end, if you don’t want to handle this and you don’t want to take this rule on, fine, don’t take it on. Fine the freaking kids. Just like the NFL, freaking fine them. Like, if you don’t want to do the targeting one, targeting two, replay, fine the freaking kids, take their money. You want to change things, you take people’s money. That’s the fairest way to do it.”

The targeting rule came about in 2008, and the NCAA instituted the automatic ejection in 2013 and had to leave the sideline as a result. However, in 2020, the NCAA changed that part of the rule and allowed ejected players to stay on the sidelines.