Thursday Night Football [open thread]

The Lanier dude (who would be a Senior when Memphis opens at Michigan in 2017 if he is still playing football) gets a 5 yard running start and clearly targets his shoulder into Kiel's helmet.  No attempt to tackle at all, or to even aim for the ball.

I'm not even sure it was directed to the head. The QB was low. Not much else the defender could have gotten.

It wasnt directed to the head though. It was a very bad slide by Kiel. He has to protect himself better. You cant maximize yards and slide at the same time.

It seemed like shoulder to shoulder to me. And it was his head hitting the ground that was the problem

Here's the NCAA's definition of a "defenseless player":

• a player in the act of or just after throwing a pass
• a receiver attempting to catch a pass, or one who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a ball carrier
• a kicker in the act of or just after kicking a ball, or during the kick or the return
• a kick returner attempting to catch or recover a kick
• a player on the ground
• a player obviously out of the play
• a player who receives a blind-side block
• a ball carrier already in the grasp of an opponent and whose forward progress has been stopped
• a quarterback any time after a change of possession

Kiel wasn't any of those things. He may have been defenseless in the common-sense usage of the term but he wasn't defenseless by rule, and that's what the officials have to go by.

College rules don't protect a QB (or anyone else) when he's giving himself up, not until he's actually on the ground.

Seems like that hit really jacked them up!