Did officials miss Georgia targeting Haynes King forced fumble?

On November 30, 2024By Littum

The pure, old-fashioned hate rivalry between no. 6 Georgia and Georgia Tech have a plain, old-fashioned controversy.

The problems arose late in the fourth quarter with Yellow Jackets (7-4, 5-3 in ACC play) with a 27-20 lead with 2:05 left Friday night’s game. Facing third-and-1, Georgia Tech could have iced the game with another first down mod Bulldogs (9-2, 6-2 SEK) in an upset that would have massive ramifications for the College Football Playoff race.

Except, quarterback Haynes King fumbled the ball on the QB sneak after a hard hit by Georgia defensive back Dan Jackson. It was promptly recovered by Bulldogs defender Chaz Chambliss, leading to a game-tying Bulldogs score with 1:01 remaining. The game eventually went to overtime.

But Yellow jackets Fans and neutral observers alike wondered if officials on the field missed targeting Jackson. In fact, a replay posted by Georgia Football’s official account showed what appeared to be textbook targeting by Jackson as he lowered his head and appeared to hit King’s face mask with the crown of his helmet:

After a review of the play — where officials confirmed that Georgia recovered the King fumble — no potential targeting was mentioned either by officials or by announcers on the “SEC on ABC” broadcast.

Given the stakes of the game and the potential for a rare upset of a top-10 Georgia team, however, the college football world was outraged by what it believed was a missed call at a crucial moment.

Here’s more:

What is targeting in college football?

The NCAA defines targeting as meeting one of the following criteria:

Leading with the crown of the helmet
Making forcible contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless player

Should a player be penalized for targeting, it will result in a 15-yard penalty and ejection of the offending player.

What is targeting in college football?

The college football world is reacting to targeting the no-call