Muschamp wants to import something from soccer: red cards, yellow cards … green cards?

The targeting rule in college football brings with it a host of questions, complaints and general confusion.

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp has a common sense solution of sorts.

He borrowed part of it from, of all places, soccer.

“You know they have in soccer, yellow cards and green cards and all that,” Muschamp said. “Well some of these (targeting calls) aren’t malicious contact. Kick a guy out of the game if it’s malicious contact. But if it’s not malicious contact and you want to give him a 15-yard penalty. That’s fine. But don’t kick a guy out of the game because he’s tackling a guy on our sideline, the guy weighs 220 pounds, bearing down.

“That’s what I think.”

One can forgive Muschamp that soccer has red and yellow cards, while green cards are an element of the American immigration system. The red and yellow cards denote two different levels of infractions (red cards are instant disqualification, while it takes a pair of yellow cards to get tossed).

At the moment, targeting calls cost a team 15 yards and a player two halves of football.

Muschamp explained the new rules have changed the way his coaches teach pass rushing and tackling.

“You’ve got to lower your targets,” Muschamp said. “Can’t lower them too much, they call that too. But you’ve got to keep the crown of the helmet out of all contact. When you’re talking in terms of protecting a defenseless player, which a quarterback in the pocket is a defenseless player.”

This year, USC has only had one player called for targeting – safety Nick Harvey. He was thrown out late in a win against Coastal Carolina and missed the first half against Georgia.

But a season ago, there was a run where it seemed as if a defensive back was averaging one nearly every game.

Muschamp noted player safety is important, but also empathized with the split-second nature of the plays in question. There are quick movements, offensive players ducking their heads and other realities that go beyond just talking about the plays in abstract.

“When you’re rushing the passer, you finally beat the 330 pounder you’ve been head-butting against for four quarters, and you’ve got an opportunity for a sack, but you’ve got to remember to keep your head out of it,” Muschamp said. “It’s very easy to be critical of a guy that doesn’t get his head out of it.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 11:35 AM.