By the time Ohio State defender Caleb Downs hit Penn State receiver Khalil Dinkins late in the fourth quarter on Saturday, the outcome of the game was already decided.
However, the decision on whether this play constituted targeting appeared to be very much up for debate.
The Buckeyes led the Nittany Lions 38-14 with a little under seven minutes left when Downs launched himself towards Dinkins with a hit that appeared to connect helmet-to-helmet.
“He goes upstairs with that shoulder, and I would be surprised if this is waved off,” said Fox commentator Joel Klatt as the referees discussed the targeting call made on Downs.
While they waited for the final decision, they also brought in rules analyst Mike Pereira to offer his thoughts on the hit. For the longtime referee, this one seemed obvious.
“I certainly like it as a targeting,” he said. “Now, don’t have to deal with the crown of the helmet here. He’s a defenseless player. There’s a launch, and there is contact to the head or neck area. But here’s the key. Even if they take targeting off, his announcement was personal foul with targeting. So the personal foul would stay on. So that’s something to remember when they make their decision here.”
Pereira was then asked if he expected the targeting part of the call to remain after it was reviewed and he said yes.
“To me, I look at this and say this is why they put the rule in,” he said. “I mean, there is the launch, and that’s the one thing. So you have the indicator. And then is it contact with the shoulder to the head neck area? Very close. Could they say it was upper chest US, possibly. It just depends how they’re looking at it. But me personally, because of the launch, I would even want to put it in that category that I would like it to stay. But we have seen them taking a different approach. They’re being really technical and saying, You have to have all elements to it. So we’ll see what he says now. However, there’s a personal file.
However, the referees did indeed reverse course, taking targeting off the table. As Pereira had said, the personal foul stayed on for Downs.
As always, a lot of people were left to ask, if that’s not targeting, what is?
We may never know.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.