Clemson's James Skalski ejected
from national championship game
for targeting, causes uproar
Fox News,
by
Ryan Gaydos
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
1/14/2020 4:11:19 AM
Clemson linebacker James Skalski was ejected from the national championship game against LSU on Monday night after officials determined he led with his helmet when making a tackle.
The play occurred in the third quarter with about six minutes left to play. Joe Burrow threw the ball to wide receiver Justin Jefferson who was immediately met by two tacklers. Skalski appeared to have made the tackle but led with his helmet and hit Jefferson in his helmet. Officials reviewed the play and ejected Skalski for targeting.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Highlander 1/14/2020 5:02:46 AM (No. 287893)
I looked at that video twice. It didn’t look like a foul to me. The player tackled sure didn’t complain, which I think should have been a factor in the refs’ decision. Bad call, terrible call!
7 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
DaddyO 1/14/2020 5:23:48 AM (No. 287907)
It's all about protecting the NCAA/NFL from lawsuits,. "Hey, you can't sue us,we had a rule against that!"
8 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
BevNJ 1/14/2020 7:48:47 AM (No. 288009)
“See what you hit.” His helmet did not strike the helmet of the LSU player, but he did lead with the crown of his helmet, That’s targeting. The rule is there to protect the tackler as well as the tacklee. (I was surprised the officials had the guts to toss the guy out of the national championship game). I’m okay with the rule, but unless the targeting is flagrant and intentional, I don’t think the player should have to watch the rest of the game from the locker room; take away his helmet and let him watch the game with his teammates from the sidelines.
5 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Paglia guy 1/14/2020 8:23:52 AM (No. 288041)
That’s when I turned the game off. I hate it when officials rig a game like they do so often in football and basketball. No mas.
5 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Madinmaryland 1/14/2020 8:25:43 AM (No. 288042)
Anyone see the flagrant foul by Jadeveon Clowny on Carson Wentz? Results devastated the Eagles. Clowny should be kicked out of football for what he did. Refs didn’t even throw a flag.
3 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 1/14/2020 8:59:27 AM (No. 288086)
Anyone else as sick of the refs engineering wins now as I am? If the NCAA and the NFL had any guts, they would clean out the corrupt rot in the referees organization. If they think the public is too dumb to notice what is going on, then they are dumber than they look.
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
lakerman1 1/14/2020 9:03:33 AM (No. 288094)
I saw that, #5, and while the officials missed it, I expected the NFL, after reviewing tapes, to suspend Clowney and fine him bigly. The league did neither. And Clowney was able to play one extra game, and play dirty again.
As for last night's game, there was not a good video shot of the hit, that I could see. (I started playing football so many decades ago, I wore a leather helmet the first year, no mouthpiece, no face mask. No one led with the helmet that I recall.)
If there is a better video available of last night's hit,, I haven't seen it yet.
1 person likes this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
LanceLink1 1/14/2020 10:23:33 AM (No. 288195)
By definition he targeted the receiver and was ejected. However I saw similar tackles being made with no penalty. So either call them or not.
Having said that I don't think the ejection had any effect on the outcome of the game. LSU had to much for anybody all season.
2 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
jeffinitely 1/14/2020 10:37:40 AM (No. 288212)
I watched the replay a few times. Tacklers always target the guy with ball, I mean who else? The guy with the ball was a few feet away, so a tackler should be throwing himself towards that guy. I could tell that the Clemson guy would have hit the ball carrier lower, except for extraneous circumstances caused the ball carrier to go lower before it was too late for the tackler to change direction. The whole thing was very unintentional if you ask me. I don't believe for one minute that the tackler was aiming his helmet high on the ball carrier. And, btw, my friends and I had a good laugh after watching the Clemson guys bump their helmets on their teammate who had just scored.... they should've ejected ALL those guys and put the target of the head butts on concussion protocol!
0 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 1/14/2020 12:12:15 PM (No. 288323)
This is a bad call. He led with his HANDS not his helmet. Skalski was lowering his head to tackle his mid-section, but his closing speed was too great and contact was made.
0 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
AntiStatist 1/14/2020 9:31:59 PM (No. 288763)
It was targeting by the rules. He led with his helmet, launched into the hit. Sealskin has to be ejected if the rules are universally applied.
Clemson benefitted by an Ohio State targeting call which also turned the momentum of that game toward Clemson, who subsequently won the game.
I’m not a fan of the targeting rule but it is the rule, and the rules can’t be ignored out of mere convenience.
0 people like this.
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