Joel Klatt passionately calls for change to targeting rule: 'Someone needs to fix that'

Targeting has been controversial in college football since the rule was implement years ago. And in Saturday’s BYU–Arizona game, Wildcats linebacker Jacob Manu was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cougars running back Hinckley Ropati. FOX’s Joel Klatt was fine with a penalty being assessed in the situation, but he thinks that players should not be ejected from games.

And he sounded off on it on the broadcast. There’s a brief video clip of the hit here as well.

"The DQ is what's the problem here… Someone needs to fix that." @JoelKlatt shares his thoughts after the early ejection for targeting between Arizona and BYU ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/b2cGavE30g

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2024

Joel Klatt sounds off on targeting call in BYU-Arizona

“The ejection is what’s the problem here. The disqualification. If you want to make the game safer, certainly make that a penalty. And that, by the letter of the law, is a targeting. So, throw a flag and give BYU 15 yards. Don’t put Manu on the bench for the rest of the game. Someone needs to fix that,” Klatt explained.

Plenty of people have been calling for changes to the way targeting has been implemented for years, so we’ll have to see if there are ever any changes on that front.

It’s a big weekend for BYU athletics in general in Provo. The BYU basketball team is hosting one of the top basketball prospects in the country: small forward AJ Dybantsa. He’s ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Dybantsa earned the 2022-2023 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year award following a freshman year at St. Sebastian’s School when he averaged 19.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game.

BYU currently leads the game on Saturday, 21-7. The second half has just started, and the game is being nationally televised on FOX.