SPORTS
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
College Football
Targeting calls increased again, Pac-12, SEC had the most
By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press
Targeting penalties in the top
tier of college football reached
an all-time high this season and
the Pac-12 and Southeastern
conferences had the most players
fl agged, according to an analysis
of NCAA data and research by The
Associated Press.
It has been 10 years since the
crackdown started on forcible hits
above the shoulders of players
determined to be defenseless.
This season, the NCAA reported
188 enforced targeting calls in
832 regular-season games of
the Bowl Subdivision; that is 30
percent more than last year, when
there were 144 in 839 games.
The per-game average has risen
35 percent, from 0.17 last year to
0.23 this season. It is the fourth
consecutive season that targeting
calls have increased.
That might seem alarming, but
the increase doesn’t indicate a
trend of head-hunting in the sport,
said Rogers Redding, the NCAA’s
national coordinator of offi cials.
He attributed the increase to offi -
cials getting better at detecting the
penalty, more willingness of replay
offi cials to call fouls missed on the
fi eld and the expanded defi nition
of what constitutes a defenseless
player.
The calls may be up, but play is
likely safer.
“Players are getting their head
out of it, they’re lowering their
strike zone, you don’t see as much
of a launch, but you still see a
crouch and upward thrust,” he
said. “Even though the numbers
are up, the player behavior overall
has changed.”
The NCAA compiles its
numbers through reports submitted
each week by conferences. A
conference report includes any
targeting call made by its offi ci-
AP Photo/Alex Gallardo, File
In this Sept. 9, 2017, fi le photo, Hawaii wide receiver Kalakaua
Timoteo, center, drops the ball as he gets hit by UCLA linebacker
Josh Woods, left, and defensive back Mossi Johnson (21) at the
goal line, during the second half of an NCAA college football game
in Pasadena, Calif. Woods was penalized for targeting and ejected.
ating crews, even if the penalty was
against an opponent from another
conference. The NCAA report,
therefore, would not always refl ect
the actual number of targeting
fouls committed by players in a
particular league.
The AP verifi ed the circum-
stances of 176 targeting calls this
season through offi cial play-by-
play sheets, media accounts and
with the assistance of school and
conference sports information
directors.
The SEC confi rmed 27
instances of its players being
fl agged for targeting but declined
to provide details of fi ve calls not
reported on play-by-play sheets or
by the media. In all, the AP could
not account for seven targeting
penalties out of the 188 reported
by the NCAA.
Among the AP’s fi ndings:
— The Pac-12 had a nation-
high 30 targeting calls against its
players, with UCLA and Utah
having fi ve apiece.
— Five other FBS schools had
fi ve targeting calls: Akron, New
Mexico State, Ohio State, Temple
and Texas A&M.
— Akron cornerback Alvin
Davis Jr. was fl agged for targeting
three times, most in the nation,
and seven other players were each
fl agged twice.
— On 152 running or passing
plays when targeting occurred,
46 calls were against safeties, 43
against defensive linemen, 33
against linebackers and 20 against
cornerbacks.
— Of the 176 verifi ed calls, 113
occurred on pass plays, 39 on runs,
21 on kickoffs or punts, and one
each on a point-after touchdown,
2-point conversion try and fi eld-
goal attempt.
— More than half of the posses-
sions in which targeting was called
ended with a score for the offended
team — 83 touchdowns, 18 fi eld
goals.
— Targeting most often
occurred on fi rst down (59 times).
The 14-team Atlantic Coast
Conference had only six enforced
targeting calls. Redding said
differing styles of play can lead to
variances across conferences, but
he said the ACC fi gure was surpris-
ingly low and he initially thought it
was the result of a reporting error.
ACC coordinator of football
offi ciating Dennis Hennigan said
it’s no mistake. He credited league
coaches for doing a good job of
teaching proper tackling technique
and what’s legal, and the players
for adapting to targeting rules.
Hennigan said he was satisfi ed
with how his offi ciating crews
performed.
“I don’t know if it was the luck
of the draw this year, but we simply
didn’t have a lot of targeting in
our conference. Just one of those
years,” he said. “Obviously, I hope
that (ACC) trend continues.”
Todd Berry, executive director
of the American Football Coaches
Association, also noted the
disparity between the ACC and
the Pac-12 but said one year is too
small a sample.
“If those numbers come back,
we need to look at, ‘Is the Pac-12
offi ciating it right or is the ACC
not offi ciating it right?’” Berry
said. “We need to look at several
years of data.”
The targeting penalty was intro-
duced in 2008 not just because
of growing concerns about the
sport’s concussion risk but also
as a response to research showing
catastrophic head, neck, spine and
brain injuries at all levels of foot-
ball spiked in the 2000s.
Targeting initially was a
personal foul, but starting in 2013
it resulted in a player ejection, and
since then all targeting calls are
subject to video review and can be
College Football
Early signing period creates more challenges
By STEVE MEGARGEE
Associated Press
An active coaching carousel
has added more uncertainty to
this week’s early signing period
and its impact on this year’s
recruiting cycle.
A new policy allows high
school seniors to sign national
letters of intent Wednesday
through Friday of this week
in addition to the traditional
February signing date.
That left a short recruiting
window for the 11 Power Five
programs that changed coaches
in the last month, a fi gure that
increases to 12 including Missis-
sippi’s decision to remove the
interim tag from Matt Luke’s title
. The list includes eight schools
that signed top-25 classes last
year according to a composite
ranking of recruiting sites
compiled by 247Sports: Florida
State , Florida , Texas A&M ,
Tennessee , Oregon , UCLA ,
Nebraska and Mississippi State .
“It’s diffi cult because of
the relationships you have to
build, which is so important in
recruiting, and you have such a
short time building those rela-
tionships,” Florida State coach
Willie Taggart said. “So it’s a
challenge, but I look forward to
it.”
The newly hired coaches have
plenty of ground to make up.
As of early Tuesday after-
noon, Nebraska was in the 40s
while Tennessee and Florida
State were outside the top 50 in
the 247Sports Composite . Those
classes lost numerous verbal
commitments amid coaching
changes.
Under the old recruiting
calendar, coaches that took
over programs in December
had a couple of months to sway
recruits. Now they just have a
couple of weeks.
As it looks now, many of
those new coaches will have
to fi ll their class from a small
pool of available prospects
when the February signing date
approaches.
“The transition classes from
schools that have new coaches
are going to be lower rated than
we’ve ever seen in some cases
because now they don’t have
that extra month of January for
a lot of these kids to change their
minds,” said Mike Farrell, the
director of recruiting for Rivals.
The early signing period
also creates complications
for veteran coaches preparing
teams for the postseason. That’s
particularly true for teams that
played in bowls last weekend
as most programs were hosting
prospects.
“Our message there is while
staffs are out there recruiting,
we’re playing, which is what
you want to be doing that type
of year,” said Boise State coach
Bryan Harsin, whose Broncos
beat Oregon in the Las Vegas
Bowl on Saturday.
Alabama’s Nick Saban
expressed his frustration with the
early signing period, saying, “I
have not talked to a coach that’s
happy with it.”
Still, there are coaches who
have embraced it.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney
said he liked the early signing
period and noted it allows pros-
pects who made their college
choices months ago to fi nalize
their decisions.
“Most of our guys are
committed, and I think it allows
everybody the chance to kind of
move on,” Swinney said.
Here are some things to
watch this week during the early
signing period.
HOW MANY WILL SIGN
EARLY? Because this early
signing period is a new thing,
nobody knows for sure how
many seniors will capitalize
on it. Farrell believes about 70
percent of senior prospects will
sign this week.
PROSPECTS
TO
WATCH: At least eight
uncommitted top-25 prospects
from the 247Sports Composite
are expected to sign this week
. The list includes defensive
ends Micah Parsons, Eyabi
Anoma, K.J. Henry and Brenton
Cox, offensive tackles Jackson
Carman and Cade Mays, offen-
sive guard Jamaree Salyer and
receiver Terrace Marshall.
BIG
WEEK
FOR
CLEMSON: The defending
national champions already
have verbal commitments from
two of the nation’s top three
overall prospects in quarterback
Trevor Lawrence and defensive
end Xavier Thomas. They’re
also in play for Salyer, Carman,
Mays and Henry among others.
“They could potentially have
fi ve of the top 10, six of the top
16 players in the country,” said
Barton Simmons, the director of
scouting for 247Sports.
A L A B A M A ’ S
CONCERNS: Alabama has
topped the 247Sports Composite
team recruiting ranking seven
straight years but could have a
tough time making it eight in a
row. Alabama is ranked seventh
and should move up this week,
but the early signing period
could make it diffi cult for the
Crimson Tide to produce its
typical February rush with fewer
top prospects available at that
point.
SWITCHING SCHOOLS:
As the early signing period
approaches, about 50 recruits
have withdrawn their verbal
commitments over the past week
. Farrell says that in many cases,
those decisions are being made
by the school rather than the
prospect. “When coaches aren’t
commenting on prospects, a
decommitment can look like a
kid’s decision, but we all know
those can be mutual, it can be a
kid saying that I don’t want to
go to that school or it could be
coaches saying you don’t have a
spot here,” Farrell said. “There’s
been a lot more decommitments
overturned. In 2016, replay offi -
cials were given the discretion to
call targeting fouls missed by fi eld
offi cials, and this year their charge
expanded to stopping the game to
call any targeting foul they see.
The number of calls initiated by
replay offi cials more than doubled
this year, from 22 to 57. Redding
also pointed out that in the last two
years the defi nition of a defense-
less player has expanded to include
a sliding ball-carrier and a player
who is blocked from his blind side.
“That opens it up for more
susceptibility for more targeting
fouls,” he said.
Redding said the NCAA Foot-
ball Rules Committee sees no need
to change the rule at this point.
“My advice to the committee is
going to be let’s not mess with this
now,” he said. “Let’s let this sit and
bake for a while. I think we need
to get everyone used to where the
rule is.”
The AFCA’s Berry said coaches
are frustrated that players are
ejected for targeting on plays
where they couldn’t avoid the type
of contact that got him fl agged.
An example, he said, is when a
receiver jumps for a ball. As he
comes down, he tends to curl up,
and the defender can’t get his head
out of the way in that “bang-bang
moment.”
Redding said targeting wouldn’t
be called if the defender’s contact
was not forcible. Removing the
ejection from the type of play
Berry described was discussed, and
dismissed, by the rules committee
last year.
“The football committee and
offi ciating community cannot be
seen backing away from this rule,”
Redding said. “The game is still
under attack. The rule has worked
very well. The optics of backing
away from this rule would be
really terrible, so the committee is
not in a mood to do that at all.”
ALL-STATE:
Pendleton, Mac-Hi
Hermiston players
also earn recognition
Continued from 1B
A few other local soccer stars earned
all-state recognition this fall as well. In Class
4A, Mac-Hi’s Kobee Carillo was a fi rst team
all-state selection, helping his Pioneers. And
in Class 5A, Pendleton junior Denisa Senker-
ikova earned fi rst team honors and on the boys
side Hermiston’s Miguel Hoyos and Noe Silva
earned second team honors.
———
3A/2A/1A Boys All-State honors
Player of the Year — Quincy Castillo, Riverside
Goalkeeper of the Year — Fritz Frerichs, Catlin Gabel
Coach of the Year — Francisco Velasquez, Riverside
First Team
Quincy Castillo, Riverside, sr.; Gabe Arce-Torres, Taft; Glen Sutter,
Riverdale; Ben Karp, Catlin Gabel; Kevin Madrigal, Riverside, sr.;
Luka Cvijanovic, St. Mary’s; Brian Garten, OES, Sam Shuetz,
Pleasant Hill; Jose Peralta, Riverside, sr.; Victor van Alebeek, Catlin
Gabel; Fritz Frerichs, Catlin Gabel
Second Team
Yamil Morales, Delphian; Parker Lam, St. Mary’s; Nico Aguilar, Co-
lumbia Christian/Portland Christian; Felix Songolo, De La Salle; Harris
Martin, Western Mennonite; William Calderon, Taft; Mason Lee, OES;
Miseal Madrigal, Riverside, sr.; Luis Olvera, Riverside, sr.; George
Shabani, De La Salle; William Brooks, Taft
3A/2A/1A Girls All-State honors
Player of the Year — Laura Staropoli, Westside Christian
Goalkeeper of the Year — Ally Priest, Catlin Gabel
Coach of the Year — Justan Wolvert, OES
First Team
Laura Staropoli, Westside Christian; Megan Ruoff, OES; Joanna
Cloutier, OES; Annike Holliday, Catlin Gabel; Aspen Trujillo, Pleasant
Hill; Stephanie Finley, OES; Skylar Wightman, Riverside; Allison
Smathers, Cresswell; Anniko Loverstrand, OES; Meghan Michels,
St. Mary’s
Second Team
Sara Klott, St. Mary’s; Ann Louise Naito, Catlin Gabel; Kiely Griffi n,
Western Mennonite/Perrydale; Cascade Christian; Rebecca Peasley,
Plesasant Hill; Sophie Wand, Catlin Gabel; Morgan Croxford, Amity;
Emma Sadle, Catlin Gabel; Alex Conley, Lakeview; Briana Anaya,
Blanchet
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