Dein erstes Forum » season brings Bradleys tally to 14-48, a .225 wi

After five Big Ten players were ejected from games the first week of the season, conference coordinator of officials Bill Carollo has been spending an inordinate amount of time dissecting targeting penalties.Probably our most difficult call, Carollo said at the outset of an interview with The Associated Press.Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys, who had three players tossed for targeting against Oregon State, said there remains gray area in defining what constitutes targeting, and some fans complain that the game is losing the physical aspects that make it appealing.Carollo understands. But he also knows that player safety is paramount for the sake of the games future.Were trying to get it right -- what makes the most sense to protect the player, Carollo said. But lets still call it football. Were not playing touch football.The targeting penalty was adopted in 2013 as a way to reduce helmet-to-helmet hits and potential head and neck injuries. The penalty is 15 yards, plus ejection of the player who committed the foul.All targeting fouls are reviewed, but replay officials until this year were limited to reviewing only if there was forcible contact to the head and neck area, and if the hit was made with the crown of the helmet. Now review officials can judge how the contact occurred, whether the player launched into an opponent or whether the contact was more incidental.The replay official also is allowed to stop play and call a targeting penalty himself if the infraction is egregious and missed by on-field officials.In the seasons first 87 Football Bowl Subdivision games, there were 16 targeting penalties, with two overturned on review, NCAA coordinator of officials Rogers Redding said.Carollo, who oversees officials in the Mid-American Conference and two lower-tier leagues in addition to the Big Ten, said he supported all decisions by his on-field and replay officials.In the Big Ten, Cody Poock, Jonathan Celestin and Taiyon Devers, all of Minnesota , were ejected for targeting, as were Iowas Josey Jewell and Nebraskas Luke Gifford.Carollo called Poocks hit on an Oregon State receiver garden variety, pretty routine, pretty standard. Celestin was flagged for hitting a sliding quarterback in what Carollo said was a good example of a new rule this year protecting defenseless players. Carollo said Devers infraction -- hitting a defenseless quarterback after he released the ball -- wasnt as obvious and needed replay to confirm that it was helmet-to-helmet contact.Claeys said he likes the targeting rule but would like to see it evolve some more.There still is some gray area just like in whats a catch and whats not a catch sometimes on the replay. So it still can come down to what type of replay official is or how people see it, he said. As we go on, hopefully that gray area can be eliminated, and will begin to tell the difference in which ones are unavoidable. If the quarterback goes down late or something like that -- it is football and its fast. I do think some of those (head hits) are unavoidable. Hopefully as the years go on we can get that cleaned up a little bit.Iowas Jewell was ejected for putting a neck-whipping, helmet-to-helmet block on a Miami (Ohio) player during an Iowa punt return.You can blow the guy up, you can hit him in the chest and puncture his lung, but you cant hit him in the head, Carollo said.Gifford was thrown out for hitting Fresno State quarterback Chason Virgil. Even though Gifford led his hit with hands to the shoulders, his helmet slid up and made contact with Virgils. If the head contact is with force, youll get a targeting call, Carollo said.Another flag for targeting in the Nebraska game was picked up because a video review ruled out head-to-head contact.Carollo said coaches are doing a good job teaching players to lower the target zone in tackling.As for his officials, Carollo said he tells them the increasing speed of the game makes it imperative that they err on the side of caution, throw a flag when they suspect targeting and let the replay official take a look.The game is played in the air and these are great athletes, he said. Theyre not trying to hurt their opponent, but sometimes they do hit them in the head when they are defenseless and with force, and youre going to get a flag.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org Wholesale Custom College Jerseys . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Cheap Custom College Jerseys . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. http://www.customjerseyscollege.com/ .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Custom College Jerseys Outlet . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Clearance Custom College Jerseys . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Jerry Rice was on the roster the last time the Oakland Raiders made the playoffs.Thats how long its been -- way back in the 2002 season.The Silver and Black matter again, thanks in large part to up-and-coming QB Derek Carr, pass-rusher extraordinaire Khalil Mack and kicker Sebastian Janikowski. The Raiders clinched a postseason berth Sunday by beating the San Diego Chargers 19-16 on Janikowskis fourth field goal of the game, a 44-yarder with a little more than 2+ minutes remaining.One thing we know for sure: We are on our way, coach Jack Del Rio told his players in the locker room after they improved to 11-3, alone in first place in the AFC West. We just punched our ticket to the playoffs!A backdrop to this seasons success has been all the talk about how much longer the team will stay in Oakland. Owner Mark Davis -- whose father, Al, was famous for proclaiming, Just win, baby -- says he plans to move the Raiders to Las Vegas, where a nearly $2 billion stadium project has been approved.There is a Feb. 15 deadline for Davis to apply for the right to uproot his club. The window to petition for that begins whenever the Raiders season ends -- and for the first time in a while, no one knows exactly when that will be.Janikowski is the only player from the teams previous playoff run who is still on the roster. Since reaching the Super Bowl 14 years ago, the Raiders have gone through some dark times.As Carr noted on Twitter: We have come a long way from an 0-10 start a couple years ago!Sure have.The frequent failures of teams like the Raiders really make what Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have done all that more remarkable: They set an NFL record with an eighth consecutive division title after a 16-3 victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. New England also is the only team to win 13 division championships in a 14-year span.You see guys that have played in this league a while, been really good players, and just havent won division championships and things like that, Patriots safety Devin McCourty said, and to see their excitement, to see how excited they are. ... Its a great feeling.In case you missedd it, here are the other top topics after the NFL seasons 15th Sunday:GIVE WHAT YOU CANThe Salvation Army got millions of dollars worth of free publicity thanks to Dallas Cowboys rookie sensation Ezekiel Elliott, who hopped inside an oversized red collection kettle behind the end zone after a 2-yard TD run during a 26-20 win against Tampa Bay on national TV at night.ddddddddddddad to show them a little bit of love, the running back said.Alas, the Cowboys were penalized for his display, angering coach Jason Garrett, and Elliott could get fined by the league. That prompted NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth to joke: There should be a charitable exemption in the rulebook.BRADLEY FIREDNot much of a surprise here: Gus Bradley was fired as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars after their 21-20 loss at the Houston Texas, their ninth consecutive loss. Theyve been bad much longer than that, though: The Jags 2-12 record this season brings Bradleys tally to 14-48, a .225 winning percentage thats the worst of anyone who has coached at least 60 NFL games. So with Bradley joining former Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher on the unemployment line, the question becomes: Who else will be out of a job by seasons end?NONSENSICAL 2-POINT TRIESCoaches just cant seem to figure out when it makes sense to try a 2-point conversion and when it doesnt. Mike Mularkey of the Titans and Doug Pederson of the Eagles both made highly debatable choices to eschew a PAT after a late TD -- and both of their teams blew it. For Mularkey, though, it miraculously didnt cost the Titans a vital win in their playoff bid, because they still edged the Chiefs 19-17 thanks to Kansas City coach Andy Reids own gaffes. For Pederson, it didnt really matter, because the Eagles were going nowhere even before their 27-26 loss to the Ravens was sealed when Carson Wentzs pass fell incomplete on a 2-point try.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter: http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '