NCAA announces change to targeting rule for 2026 college football season
By David Wasson
Published:
A potentially significant rule change in college football will take effect in 2026, as a player’s first offense for targeting will no longer carry over to the player’s next game.
The change, approved Thursday by the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee on a one-year trial, modifies the penalty structure when players are penalized for targeting. Under the rule starting in 2026, a player disqualified for targeting for the first time during the season, regardless of which half it occurs, may participate in the next game.
That is a change from previous seasons, when a player who was penalized in the second half of a game would have to sit out the first half of his next game. That structure will take now place for a player who gets penalized for targeting a second time during the season. And if a player is penalized for targeting for a third time – which did not happen in 2025 – that player will be required to miss the entire next game.
Conferences also now have the option to initiate an appeals process after a player’s second targeting offense. The appeal, which can cover the first and second targeting offenses, would be sent to the NCAA national coordinator of football officials and facilitate a video review.
The oversight committee did not approve a controversial proposal that would have required players to wear leg coverings from the top of their shoes to the bottom of their pants.
Other rules approved include a team now being able to choose to attempt a kick after a completed or awarded fair catch – in line with high school and NFL rules, jersey number exceptions on punts, changing offensive pass interference from a 15-yard penalty to a 10-yard penalty and clarifying guidance on when to issue unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
