Gamecock Digest

Beamer Discusses Losing DQ Smith Appeal, Potential Targeting Reform

South Carolina's Football team will play the first half of their game against Jacksonville State without one of their starting safeties.

Andrew Lyon

Beamer Discusses Losing DQ Smith Appeal, Potential Targeting Reform
Beamer Discusses Losing DQ Smith Appeal, Potential Targeting Reform /

This past weekend, in the second half against Texas A&M, the South Carolina Gamecocks lost one of their better defensive backs, DQ Smith, to a targeting foul, which, when enforced, results in an automatic ejection for the player. The ruling had many Carolina fans upset on Twitter/X, as they felt DQ was making a football play, but unfortunately for the South Carolina native and Shane Beamer, who filed an appeal that was quickly denied on Sunday, they don't have much say in a rule that dramatically affects their team.

DQ Smith on the sideline against Texas A&M (28th Oct., 2023) / Dustin Safranek | USA Today Network

After confirming the safety won't be available at the beginning of their game against the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State, Beamer was later asked if he would like to see some changes to the targeting rules, which have been in place since 2013 but still faces scrutiny at times for how it's enforced. Shane acknowledged that while he understands where the referees and NCAA were coming from on DQ's ejection, he does believe that the interpretation aspect of the rule needs some fine-tuning.

"I think there's something that could be done. I understand his suspension because the way the rule reads right now," Beamer explained. "What the officials told me during the game [was] that it wasn't that he went helmet to helmet. It was because he went, he lowered his head, and the crown of his helmet hit the Texas A&M [receiver's] body first. And that's the way the rule reads, and it's pretty cut and dry. I would certainly like to see something changed because DQ was trying to avoid a targeting penalty right there," Shane lamented. "Now, we got to coach it better. We don't teach lower our head and hit with the crown of the helm. And I get it. But to me, there's a difference between a guy going helmet to helmet and he's lowering the crown of his head to hit the guy in the helmet and DQ ducking his head and hitting the guy in the stomach or whatever it was for sure. So I don't love it, but I get it on that one. Certainly, there could be some adjustments."

Beamer hasn't been shy in the past about making his feelings known regarding certain rule or itinerary changes that relate to preseason scrimmages, NIL legislation, the December recruiting calendar, amongst other issues. It'll be interesting to see what happens to this rule if more coaches like Shane become more outspoken about the perceived need to alter the definition of the infamous targeting rule in college football.

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Andrew Lyon
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