Alabama football senior linebacker Justin Jefferson went down in the fourth quarter of Alabama’s 42-16 win over USF on Saturday night and will now sit out the first half for the trip of the Crimson Tide at Camp Randall next week against Wisconsin.
In an era where the rules of the game continue to shift more and more toward the offensive side of the ball, college football officials have completely lost track of the spirit of the target rule. The targeting penalty was implemented in college football in 2008 and has been controversial since its inception. No one—from the rules experts who run the game to the lounge patrons who watch the television between sips of Coors Light—can agree on what the goal really is. This has long been an inconsistent decision that never seems to be interpreted the same way from game to game.
The spirit of the rule is to protect the players. This is to protect players from opposing players using the crown of their helmet as a weapon. To a large extent, the rule has been effective, as we see much less head contact from players and much less of the devastating hits that have destroyed careers and caused lifelong problems for many former players.
The spirit of the rule, however, is not to make it impossible for defensive players to do their job. Every college football game I watch seems to come with a controversial field goal call. Playing defense has never been more difficult in the history of the sport, and now it looks like they have to do it with their hands tied behind their backs. Jefferson, having arguably his best game with the Crimson, was called for a targeting foul in the fourth quarter of an 8-point game. He came up and made a big play to tackle USF QB Byrum Brown behind the line of scrimmage and the play looked harmless enough. Of course, the stoppage of play occurred so the refs could slow down the play frame by frame to see if Jefferson had lowered his head and initiated contact with the crown of his helmet.