SoCon football anti-targeting rule changes

SoCon commissioner John Iamarino announced a couple of changes to the anti-targeting rules at the media day last Wednesday, These are changes which most, if not all the conference coaches has requested.

What is the anti-targeting rule? Simply put, the "anti-targeting" rule states if you intentionally hit a defenseless player above the shoulders, you're ejected.

According to the NCAA rule on targeting, a player that is ejected in the first half of a game for targeting, will be eligible to play the entire game the following week. A player ejected in the second half will miss the first half of the next game.

The new SoCon policy now states when a player is ejected for targeting in the first half of a game, conference officials have 10 minutes at halftime to review the play to make sure the proper call was made. If they decide the ejection was an error, the player will be allowed to return in the second half. Second-half ejections will be reviewed the following week.

The league has now removed the targeting penalty from the "unsportsmanlike" category. Unsportsmanlike penalties in the Southern Conference results in an automatic one-game suspension for the player, in addition to any on field penalty.

So, before this change, any ejection for targeting, even if it's on the opening kickoff, forced the offending player to sit out the rest of that game, and the next game as well.



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