Editor’s Note: Indiana is playing Miami football in the CFP national championship game. Follow live updates here.
Indiana football opened up the scoring of the College Football Playoff national championship against No. 10 Miami with a 34-yard field goal from Nicolas Radicic with under three minutes remaining in the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium.
Advertisement
However, it appears that officials may have missed a key penalty just a few plays before that against the Hurricanes and defensive end Jakobe Thomas, who laid a hit on Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza at the end of a handoff to running back Kaelon Black on third-and-4 at the Miami 27-yard line.
ESPN rules analyst Bill LeMonnier agreed with initial thoughts from Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit in the booth that officials missed a targeting call against Thomas on his hit on Mendoza. The Hoosiers’ quarterback came up with a bloody lip following the hit.
Here’s a look at the play in question:
REQUIRED READING: Indiana vs Miami score: National championship live updates, highlights, stats
Advertisement
LeMonnier mentioned that the crown of Thomas’ helmet went into Mendoza’s helmet after the Heisman Trophy winner handed the ball off to his running back. Though Black picked up the first down with a 7-yard carry, the Hoosiers would have received an additional 15-yards and gotten close to the end zone.
Should officials have called Thomas for targeting, he would have been the second Hurricane to miss time in Monday’s national championship game. Miami sophomore defensive back Xavier Lucas is sitting out the first half of the game for a targeting ejection he received in the second half of the CFP Fiesta Bowl semifinal against Mississippi.
Ultimately, officials did not call targeting, and college football fans and analysts alike weren’t happy officials missed what could have been early game-changing penalty:
Did officials miss a targeting call on Miami’s Jakobe Thomas against Fernando Mendoza? Social media reacts
Here’s a snippet of reactions:
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Advertisement
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Should Miami have been called for targeting on Fernando Mendoza hit?
