NCAA subcommittee proposes one-year trial rule change to college football targeting penalty

The Division I Football Rules Subcommittee has proposed a one-year trial rule that would change the penalty structure for targeting calls in college football. The NCAA announced the news on Thursday afternoon.

Under the recommended change, a player disqualified for targeting for the first time during the season, regardless of which half it occurs in, could play in the next game. The current rule requires players who are ejected for targeting in the second half of a game to miss the first half of the following game.

The current rule would continue to apply for players who are called for targeting a second time during the same season of play. Therefore, if a player is called for targeting for the second time in a season during the second half of a game, he will be forced to sit out the first half of the following game.

The FBS and FCS Oversight Committees must approve the proposal before it becomes official. The FBS Oversight Committee is set to review the rule recommendation on March 19, while the FCS Oversight Committee will review it on March 23.

“This continues the evolution of our targeting rule and balances the important safety impact with an appropriate penalty structure,” A.J. Edds, rules subcommittee chair and vice president of football administration for the Big Ten Conference, said. “We will closely monitor this one-year adjustment, and the committee believes it is important to enhance the progressive penalty to ensure proper coaching and player education.”

The NCAA is also giving conferences the option to appeal after a player’s second targeting call. The appeal can cover the first and second offenses and would be sent to the NCAA national coordinator of football officials for a video review.

If the call is overturned on appeal, the player would be able to play without sitting out the first half of the next game. Since the 2022 season, conferences have been able to appeal second-half targeting calls for video review with the hopes of having a first-half suspension for the next game overturned.

Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger first broke news of the proposed targeting rule change on Wednesday.