Colorado Buffaloes safety Shiloh Sanders was ejected in the first half of CU’s game against UCLA on Saturday night.
The moment came at the 3:20 mark of the second quarter when Sanders delivered a strong hit to UCLA’s Carsen Ryan.
Shiloh Sanders flexing to the refs face, only to have the targeting call confirmed is, honestly, one of the funniest things I’ve seen this season. 😭
pic.twitter.com/Ez3hzCNTvs— Whistle (@WhistleSports) October 29, 2023
It’s important to remind ourselves of the NCAA’s definition of targeting, which is: “Forcible contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulder.”
It appears this comes down to the definition of “forcible contact.” Does Sanders’ helmet contact Ryan’s helmet? Yes. But, Ryan’s head clearly wasn’t his target. The brunt of the blow was to the chest, and the heads just bumped as heads do when bodies collide at high speed in confined areas.
Is that “forcible contact?” It seems as though that should be determined by the area of the player’s body that was targeted, not by whether their heads touched.
I’ve made no secret my disdain for the behavior of Shiloh Sanders or his brother Shedeur, but this is a bad call. That’s a football play and no flag should have been thrown.
Things didn’t improve for the Buffaloes after that play. They lost to UCLA 28-16. Colorado has lost three out of the last four after starting 3-0.
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