Players who target and hit defenseless players above the shoulders will be ejected from games under a proposal unanimously approved by the NCAA Football Rules Committee.
Targeting will continue to be a 15-yard penalty. Committee chairman and Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said Wednesday that officials, conference commissioners and coaches want the ejection tacked on to send a message that intentional helmet-to-helmet hits won’t be tolerated.
If the Playing Rules Oversight Panel approves the plan next month, the rule will go into effect for the 2013 season.
The rules committee also simplified the blocking-below-the-waist rule. Low blocks delivered from in front of the defender in typical line play would be legal and low blocks from the side or back would not.