Clemson's James Skalski ejected for targeting, which continues to be a ridiculously harsh penalty
Clemson's James Skalski was ejected from the national title game for targeting.
Clemson star linebacker James Skalski had his championship game come to an abrupt end Monday night when he was called for targeting midway through the third quarter and was immediately ejected from the game and sent to the locker room, per the rules of college football.
Which is absolutely ridiculous.
This targeting penalty of immediate ejection continues to be one the dumbest things about college football. Things happen pretty quickly during a play and to have your game come to an end because of one bang-bang moment is utterly ridiculous.
The junior linebacker couldn’t believe he was tossed from the game for this hit:
Was it a dangerous hit? Sure. Did it deserve an ejection? By the rule, yes. But that’s the problem – this rule should allow for a warning before an ejection and the refs should have more leeway to deal with these calls.
I’m sure Ohio State’s Shaun Wade, who was tossed from the playoff loss LSU, agrees with me.
Player safety is absolutely important, but this ejection punishment seems to be way too strict. There has to be a better way to deal with these type of plays and calls, right?
Many people on Twitter ripped the rule: