New Targeting Rule for 2026

[Huckleberry]

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Awesome

What is targeting again?

 

[Probius]

Awesome

What is targeting again?

It keeps changing so much that it's hard to know.

 

[Tubafore]

So, targeting on the final play is free for all and you'll only miss the untimed down. Good lesson

 

[Bama_N_Va]

Targeting happens when a guy gets his bell rung, so, the logical fix for targeting is to have all players just remove their bells in the pre-game warm ups.

 

[BhamToTexas]

So, targeting on the final play is free for all and you'll only miss the untimed down. Good lesson

I hear you, but I don’t know that we will really see this. Under the rules now you could send in a backup at the end of the game just to take someone out, but that doesn’t happen.

 

[BamaMoon]

In other rule changes, can anyone explain what this means???

-- Fair catch kicks have been approved, giving teams the opportunity to attempt a field goal or drop kick from the spot a returner fair-caught the ball. The defense is required to be 10 yards from the spot of the kick.

 

[Padreruf]

Very simple...if you make a fair catch then you can attempt a FG from that spot...the defense has to be 10 yards back. This has been a HS rule in SC for at least 30 years...my sons' HS football team tried this after making a Fair Catch on the opponent's 45. Wide left...but plenty long!!!

 

[bamamc1]

The targeting penalty is called differently from week to week. We'll see has this variation works.

 

[BamaMoon]

Very simple...if you make a fair catch then you can attempt a FG from that spot...the defense has to be 10 yards back. This has been a HS rule in SC for at least 30 years...my sons' HS football team tried this after making a Fair Catch on the opponent's 45. Wide left...but plenty long!!!

You'd think this would come into play more especially when a team has to punt from deep in the end zone.

A good kicker with virtually no rush could/should make this a lot!

But I guess the reason it doesn't come into play more often is that teams are usually interested in a TD drive inside of the 50.

 

[BamaMoon]

Concerning targeting, it's the worst rule in college football.

It usually happens when the offensive player ducks his head before impact or is going down and the two players' helmets collide.

As someone said, it penalizes players for playing the game. The only time it should ever be called is when it is beyond clear a player spears intentionally, which is rarely the case!

 

[bamaslammer]

They throw the targeting flag on ANY and I do mean ANY play that "looks violent" then they let the guy in the booth figure it out. So far I've seen zero consistency in what criteria they use. first they said it had to involved contact with the crown of the helmet then they started nailing us for inadvertent helmet touching. This isn't rocket science, I don't know why they can't define a set of criteria and only penalize when they are all CLEARLY met. Do they get paid a commission on penalties or what?

 

[Elefantman]

I would prefer the penalty for targeting to be removal from the game for the remainder of the current quarter and all of the next quarter. So the max time lost would be under 30 minutes. Get called for targeting in the 1st, return after the half.

 

[BamaMoon]

I would prefer the penalty for targeting to be removal from the game for the remainder of the current quarter and all of the next quarter. So the max time lost would be under 30 minutes. Get called for targeting in the 1st, return after the half.

How about just a 15 yard penalty on 1st time in a game. Second time, a penalty. 3rd time...

I guess after 3 in a game they should sit for the rest of the game.

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

First off they should be consistent with targeting calls.
As someone else already stated: If the defensive player is already going low to make a tackle and at the last second the running back/receiver lowers his head to actually cause the contact either call targeting on the offensive player or don't call it at all.