NCAA approves trial rule giving players a break for 1st targeting penalty

For at least one season, a targeting penalty will no longer automatically take a player off the field for the following game.

The Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee on Thursday approved a one-year trial rule that gives a player a break for his first targeting penalty.

For the 2026 season, a player disqualified for targeting for the first time in the season may participate in the following game. The trial rule will apply regardless of which half the targeting penalty is called.

A player who draws his second targeting penalty of the season will be required to miss the first half of the next game. A player who draws his third targeting of the season must sit out the full following game.

No players were disqualified for targeting three times in the 2025 season.

A conference can choose to initiate an appeals process after a player’s second targeting penalty. The appeal would be sent to the NCAA national coordinator of football officials for a video review. If the appeal is successful, the player would not be forced to sit out the first half of the following game.

Before the trial rule, players disqualified for targeting have had to sit out the first half of the following game if the targeting penalty occurred in the second half of a game.

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