The Weekender: Tweak to the Targeting Penalty, Former Buckeye Joins Luke Fickell's Staff, and Fouls Are Down in College Basketball

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Tweaking the Targeting Rule

There likely isn't a single rule in the books that draws as much ire from the fans as college football's targeting rule. Well, the rule could be getting a minor tweak – but don't get too excited.

The committee, which began meeting Wednesday, proposed a change to the targeting rule after considering several adjustments. In games that have instant replay, when a targeting foul occurs in the second half, the carryover penalty (of sitting out the first half of that player’s next game) will be eligible for further appeal.

The process would begin with a conference submitting a request to Steve Shaw, the NCAA national coordinator of officials, who would review video of the play. If it is clearly obvious that a player was incorrectly penalized for targeting, the call would be overturned, and the player would be cleared to play in the first half of the next game.

“The committee strongly supports the targeting rule and believes it continues to directly support player health and safety and technique,” said David Shaw, rules committee chair and coach at Stanford. “Adjustments have been made in recent years to ensure proper enforcement, which is very important, given the significant penalty associated with the rule. It is understood that targeting receives a lot of media and fan attention — and rightfully so. In the rare instance when a penalty is incorrectly applied, we believe there should be a mechanism to correct it before the next week to enhance this rule.”

It ain't any of the things fans and coaches have been asking for – a tiered penalty that didn't result in ejection for incidental penalties, more consistency with how much time a player has to miss following an ejection, more consistency with the penalty in general – but at least it's another opportunity to get the call correct.

Another Buckeye in Cincy

It looks like we've got another Buckeye joining the Bearcats down in Cincinnati as former Ohio State lineman John Peterson is reuniting with Luke Fickell down in the Queen City.

John Peterson, who starred at Ohio State University before his graduation from the Buckeyes program in 1991, is reuniting with another former Buckeyes star.

Sources tell FootballScoop that Peterson is heading to the University of Cincinnati to rejoin the staff of Luke Fickell. Per sources, Peterson is stepping into a senior, off-the-field role for the Bearcats program, which has soared to unprecedented heights under Fickell and finished 13-1 last season with the first-ever Group of 5 College Football Playoff appearance.

In Peterson, the Bearcats get an extremely veteran coach who has worked intimately with offensive line and tight end position groups through the years. Both Fickell and Peterson were together at Ohio State on the coaching staff from 2004-11, and both are from the Jim Tressel coaching tree.

Between Fickell, Peterson, Kerry Coombs, Blue Smith, Mike Tressel, Urban Meyer's son and Mickey Marotti's son, there's quite a lot of Buckeye flavor on that Cincinnati staff, and that probably isn't slowing down anytime soon.

Swallowing the Whistle

If you're a fan of referees swallowing their whistles and letting players play, then this college hoops season has been for you. Statistically, there have been fewer fouls called per game this season than any other season in the history of college basketball.