Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

Questionable targeting call results in Clemson’s James Skalski being ejected

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

A questionable targeting call in the national championship game led to an ejection for Clemson linebacker James Skalski.

In the second half of Monday night’s title game, Joe Burrow completed a pass to Justin Jefferson to move LSU closer to the end zone. After the catch, Jefferson took quite a shot from Skalski, which appeared to be clean. At least at first glance.

But the officiating crew calling the game decided to take a closer look at the hit and determined that there was a targeting foul on Skalski. That led to an ejection and the end of the game for the Clemson linebacker. Below is a closer look at that hit:

That’s a tough one to accept, especially in a game of this magnitude in a crucial juncture in the game. LSU went on to score a touchdown to make it a two-score game in the third quarter.

Should this have been ruled targeting?

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB