Urban Meyer: Big Ten admitted Denzel Ward targeting call was wrong

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he was told defensive back Denzel Ward should not have been ejected Saturday.

Ward was tossed for a very iffy targeting call. The play, not called targeting on the field, was called for a review. Ward was ejected after the review.

Here’s the hit in question:

The hit that got Denzel Ward ejected: pic.twitter.com/tucXTT6CKd

— Ryan Connors (@RyanConnors_) October 7, 2017

Tuesday, Meyer said the Big Ten admitted the hit was not a targeting foul. From Rivals’ Buckeye Grove:

“What you do is you turn it in each week and we will have a guy on our staff call the head of Big Ten officiating and the report back was that on the field it is a snap judgment but the replay official was in error,” Meyer said. “We are going to reward Denzel Ward today at practice for a caused fumble and he should not have been ejected. It was a mistake.”

Ward’s hit happened in the first half of Saturday’s game, so he won’t have to miss any time vs. Nebraska in Week 7. Had the hit happened in the second half and Ward was forced to miss the first half of the Nebraska game, we wonder if the Big Ten would rescind the suspension given the call was in error.

Meyer also added that he was more than simply concerned about an incorrect targeting call impacting other games in the future. He’s got a fantastic point. While the NCAA has the right idea with the targeting penalty, its enforcement is inconsistent at best and leads to situations like Ward was involved in on Saturday.

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