Early in the first quarter of Minnesota's eventual win over Wisconsin in the 2018 regular-season finale, Gophers' senior linebacker Blake Cashman was ejected for targeting on punt coverage. Cashman, a former walk-on, was forced to watch the remainder of the game, Minnesota's first win over Wisconsin in 15 years, from the locker room. Two years later, that nonsensical rule is gone.
For the second straight year, the NCAA altered the targeting rule, and while the automatic-ejection rule itself remains in place (along with the progressive penalty for targeting, which subjects players to a one-game suspension after three targeting fouls in one season), they eliminated the piece requiring the ejected player to exit the field.
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"The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the rules change Monday," the NCAA announced this week. "Players flagged for targeting will remain disqualified from the game. But instead of being ejected and required to head to the locker room after a targeting foul — which had been the rule since 2013 — players will be permitted to remain in the team area. All other aspects of the targeting rule remain the same."
The NCAA also made rule changes to instant replay, duplicate jersey numbers and pregame protocol. You can read those details here.
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