Ohio State safety Isaiah Pryor was ejected from the second half of Saturday night’s game against Penn State for targeting, a call many felt was unnecessary and inappropriate.
Trace McSorley completed a third-down pass to KJ Hamler in the fourth quarter of the game. Pryor came to help with the tackle and dipped his head down but ducked out of the way afterwards. His shoulder appeared to make contact with the diminutive Nittany Lions receiver’s head.
Heck of a job to hold onto this reception by @Kj_hamler, who walked off under his own power.
The play set up a @PennStateFball TD, and Isaiah Pryor of Ohio State was ejected for targeting: pic.twitter.com/RE5qertYYq
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 30, 2018
Isaiah Pryor ejected for targeting. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/6DBdXYrVcS
— Lettermen Row (@LettermenRow) September 30, 2018
Most watching the game disputed the call for two reasons. One, they did not think it was targeting. Two, even if it was targeting, the thinking is there should be two types of penalties — one for a targeting hit with intent, which results in an ejection, and another for incidental targeting where the player remains in the game.
Am I missing something? Pryor barely touched him….lol
— Alex Gleitman (@alexgleitman) September 30, 2018
It looked like got they just threw the targeting flag on Pryor because Hamler got injured. The ref threw it after Hamler didn't get up. Don't think that's even close to targeting.
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) September 30, 2018
That was a terrible call….. Pryor kicked out of the game for OSU…. I understand cheap shots but that was not one….
— DOM TIBERI (@DOMTIBERI) September 30, 2018
For the 10,485th time, there needs to be 2 different types of targeting in College Football.
Targeting 1: Intent to harm – 15 yards, ejection.
Targeting 2: Inadvertent helmet to helmet contact – 15 yards, no ejection.
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 30, 2018
The current rule says that a player can be called for targeting for hitting a defenseless player in the head/neck area with their head/arm/shoulder. Considering the way the rule is written, the ejection was fair, even if it was harsh. But there probably should be a change to the rule to differentiate between vicious hits with seeming intent and ones involving more incidental contact, like this one. When Pryor is getting ejected for that and USC’s Porter Gustin stays in a game despite doing this, it’s a problem.
