Trying to determine a targeting penalty is difficult enough for trained officials in college football. And, apparently, the Pac-12 doesn’t trust their judgement.

In an exclusive report from Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports, the replay report from a controversial targeting call in a Pac-12 game says that an untrained third party disagreed with the original ruling of targeting and overturned the call.

On the final play of the third quarter, USC quarterback JT Daniels scrambled before eventually taking a knee. After he was down, Washington State linebacker Logan Tago collided with Daniels headfirst, making helmet-to-helmet contact. Tago was flagged for targeting and it seemed he would be ejected from the game.

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The call of targeting was overturned and Tago remained in the game.

Why was such clear helmet-to-helmet contact not punished? Because Pac-12 general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs Woodie Dixon, didn’t believe it was the right call.

From Yahoo! Sports:

Targeting wasn’t called and Tago stayed in the game. The replay report obtained by Yahoo Sports states that “unfortunately a third party did not agree” with the call. That “third party” was Pac-12 general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs Woodie Dixon, Yahoo Sports sources have confirmed.

Dixon oversees football for the conference but is not a formally trained official. Dixon telephoned in his opinion that the play wasn’t targeting, sources said. According to the report, his opinion overruled both the trained officials in the stadium replay booth and in the league’s command center.

That’s not a great look for the Pac-12.

Targeting calls are difficult enough to interpret. Having an untrained third party make a decision really doesn’t have a place in college football. Kind of like those people who watch golf and decide to call the PGA Tour about any rules violation they see from their television.

Hopefully this was a one-time thing in the Pac-12. It should have been a no-time thing.