Overview
- During No. 1 Ohio State’s 38-14 win over Penn State, officials overturned a fourth-quarter targeting call on Caleb Downs but enforced a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
- The play involved Downs launching into tight end Khalil Dinkins on an incomplete pass over the middle, with Dinkins fitting the rulebook’s definition of a defenseless player.
- The NCAA defines targeting as forcible contact to the head or neck of a defenseless opponent with at least one indicator, including a launch.
- Fox’s Mike Pereira and NBC’s Terry McAulay said the hit met targeting criteria, citing a clear launch and contact to the head/neck area.
- By removing targeting, officials avoided an ejection and a carryover suspension to the first half at Purdue, and no detailed postgame explanation from the crew has been reported.