I haven’t listened to The Athletic’s “Until Saturday” college football podcast (with David Ubben (@davidubben), Chris Vanninin (@ChrisVannini), and Damien Harris (@DHx34) before, but they had some interesting takes about the Texas-ASU game, claiming it was the third best college football playoff game of all time and saying that the Arizona State girls were trying to mess with Bert Auburn when he was warming up on the sidelines. But after all the ridiculous national media hoopla about the supposed non-call on Taafe, I thought their comments on targeting in the game were refreshing:
“Let's talk about the targeting situation, because this became a gigantic thing at the end. I think people are overreacting.
I'm ready for people to yell at me. I didn't think it was targeting.
It wasn't targeting. So there's two plays. There's two plays.
Texas throws a deep ball, intercepted. Along with the interception, Isaiah Bond, the Texas receiver, is hit by another player, head snaps back. They review it for targeting, no call.
Arizona State goes down and ties the game. Then with like a minute or so left, Arizona State completes a third and 15 catch, like 10 yards, and Taft makes the tackle, hits him, and they don't call targeting. They reviewed it, didn't call it targeting.
Terry McCauley, the Thursday Night Football Rules guy thinks it's targeting. Kenny Dillingham didn't really want to say much afterward, but if that is called targeting, that puts Arizona State at like the 35-ish yard line.
Yeah, game's over.
I'm not, no, game's definitely not over at that point.
It's pretty much over.
Have you seen their kicking situation? It's not exactly very good, and Texas defense is good. But I don't like that excuse of we would have won the game because you are a fourth and 13 away from winning the game.
Stop fourth and 13, and you win. But some people are like, oh, you don't want targeting to decide the game. Oh, we hate targeting.
Don't let it do, like, what did you think? I, that, the Texas hit, I thought it was not targeting. I thought it was just a guy moving forward.
The helmets collided, but he wasn't like lowering his head to hit him. They just collided. But it is a play I have, I feel like I've seen it flagged as targeting many times before.
That's where the frustration comes from.
I'm with Kenny Dillingham and I don't know what targeting is. I don't know how it's officiated. I think the coaches complain it's officiated inconsistently.
But watching it live, I thought, oh, that might be targeting. They reviewed it. I'm seeing everybody on Twitter is like, oh, that's definitely target.
I'm like, I don't see targeting. I see his head up. I didn't see a launch.
He just goes in and wraps up. I can see why people thought it was target. But again, maybe I just don't know what targeting is.
I didn't think it was targeting, but I just appreciated the consistency in officiating. If you don't call it targeting on Isaiah Bond, don't call it targeting on Taft.
Yeah, great idea.
Don't call it targeting on Taft at the end of the game. I thought both could have gone either way. They could have called both of them targeting.
They could have not called them both not targeting. I thought at least the fact that with Bond's situation, it looked bad. They went to the booth.
They reviewed it. They declared that it wasn't targeting. And then they followed it up at the end of the game, making the same exact call.
I was just glad the officiating was consistent. Because if you have one that's targeting, you have one that's not. Then you got Sark vs. Kenny Dillingham. Which call was right? Which call was wrong?
I just like the consistency. And especially with Taps was a little bit more... I'm with you, Ubben.
I didn't see any launch. I didn't see him duck his head or anything like that. He was going to make a good form tackle.
And it's so hard, especially for these defenders, because they're already in the act of tackling. And then you're telling them to adjust their body mid-motion just to avoid a guy that catches and turns right into you. Well, in the way that football works, defenders are entitled to space just the way that offensive players are entitled to space.
So if a guy catches a ball and turns right into “and turns right into you and y'all hit face to face, then I see it as no targeting. And that's how I saw that. That's how I saw that putt.”
Until Saturday: A show about college football: Ohio State is a juggernaut & Texas-Arizona State is a top-3 playoff game of all-time! | CFP Quarterfinals Reaction, Jan 2, 2025
“Let's talk about the targeting situation, because this became a gigantic thing at the end. I think people are overreacting.
I'm ready for people to yell at me. I didn't think it was targeting.
It wasn't targeting. So there's two plays. There's two plays.
Texas throws a deep ball, intercepted. Along with the interception, Isaiah Bond, the Texas receiver, is hit by another player, head snaps back. They review it for targeting, no call.
Arizona State goes down and ties the game. Then with like a minute or so left, Arizona State completes a third and 15 catch, like 10 yards, and Taft makes the tackle, hits him, and they don't call targeting. They reviewed it, didn't call it targeting.
Terry McCauley, the Thursday Night Football Rules guy thinks it's targeting. Kenny Dillingham didn't really want to say much afterward, but if that is called targeting, that puts Arizona State at like the 35-ish yard line.
Yeah, game's over.
I'm not, no, game's definitely not over at that point.
It's pretty much over.
Have you seen their kicking situation? It's not exactly very good, and Texas defense is good. But I don't like that excuse of we would have won the game because you are a fourth and 13 away from winning the game.
Stop fourth and 13, and you win. But some people are like, oh, you don't want targeting to decide the game. Oh, we hate targeting.
Don't let it do, like, what did you think? I, that, the Texas hit, I thought it was not targeting. I thought it was just a guy moving forward.
The helmets collided, but he wasn't like lowering his head to hit him. They just collided. But it is a play I have, I feel like I've seen it flagged as targeting many times before.
That's where the frustration comes from.
I'm with Kenny Dillingham and I don't know what targeting is. I don't know how it's officiated. I think the coaches complain it's officiated inconsistently.
But watching it live, I thought, oh, that might be targeting. They reviewed it. I'm seeing everybody on Twitter is like, oh, that's definitely target.
I'm like, I don't see targeting. I see his head up. I didn't see a launch.
He just goes in and wraps up. I can see why people thought it was target. But again, maybe I just don't know what targeting is.
I didn't think it was targeting, but I just appreciated the consistency in officiating. If you don't call it targeting on Isaiah Bond, don't call it targeting on Taft.
Yeah, great idea.
Don't call it targeting on Taft at the end of the game. I thought both could have gone either way. They could have called both of them targeting.
They could have not called them both not targeting. I thought at least the fact that with Bond's situation, it looked bad. They went to the booth.
They reviewed it. They declared that it wasn't targeting. And then they followed it up at the end of the game, making the same exact call.
I was just glad the officiating was consistent. Because if you have one that's targeting, you have one that's not. Then you got Sark vs. Kenny Dillingham. Which call was right? Which call was wrong?
I just like the consistency. And especially with Taps was a little bit more... I'm with you, Ubben.
I didn't see any launch. I didn't see him duck his head or anything like that. He was going to make a good form tackle.
And it's so hard, especially for these defenders, because they're already in the act of tackling. And then you're telling them to adjust their body mid-motion just to avoid a guy that catches and turns right into you. Well, in the way that football works, defenders are entitled to space just the way that offensive players are entitled to space.
So if a guy catches a ball and turns right into “and turns right into you and y'all hit face to face, then I see it as no targeting. And that's how I saw that. That's how I saw that putt.”
Until Saturday: A show about college football: Ohio State is a juggernaut & Texas-Arizona State is a top-3 playoff game of all-time! | CFP Quarterfinals Reaction, Jan 2, 2025
