Cameron Smith To Miss First Half Of Western Michigan Game

USC linebacker Cameron Smith will be forced to sit out the first half of the season-opener against Western Michigan because of his ejection for a targeting against Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

30 thoughts on “Cameron Smith To Miss First Half Of Western Michigan Game

  1. When Kirk Herbstreit starts to question the call it shows the ACC did not use their best crew. This is a great example.

    • I’m pretty sure it was an ACC basketball crew… except for their calls in favor of SC, which I completely support ;0

  2. This is just plain dumb. That “targeting” call was just plain dumb. So many calls in that game were just plain dumb – and that goes for both teams. Embarrassingly horrible officiating. I’m just plain happy we walked away with the W.

  3. I’m fairly certain that Flow plagerized this almost verbatim from Kyle Bonagura’s twitter feed:

    “USC LB Cam Smith will have to sit out the first half of next year’s season-opener against Western Michigan as a result of his targeting ejection in the second half against Penn State, according the a Pac-12 spokesman. There had been some uncertainty about whether it would carry over through the offseason.”

    If so, that’s journalistic integrity of the highest order.

  4. What? Didn’t a human review the play? I heard it on the radio/phone and nobody on the broadcast crew could believe they called it.
    Well if it was targeting maybe Penn State can claim they lost because their quarterback had a concussion that caused a poor throw.

  5. There has to be some way of perceiving intent when flagging for targeting, like there is with face mask calls. Cam did not plan or intend to target on that play. The impossibility of pulling up in a split second to avoid the head to head contact should be considered. I saw Trace lower his head at the last moment as he pushed forward while Cam did not lower his head as a projectile. Cam had no time for corrective action. As a true collision sport, these types of instances occur. I know the play was reviewed, however more attention should be paid to intent, not just contact location.

    • If anyone had their eyes open on the replays, they could see Smith did NOT lower his helmet or “slam” himself into McSorely at the angle that constitutes “targeting”. Calls like that make me sick because they are made by old men who apparently have forgotten what it’s like to play defense running at 20 mph and 250 lbs. Maybe one day they’ll figure out a way to put air brakes on the shoes…

    • Some of the calls I thought were bad I too changed my mind after watching the game on DVR, others were just bad. Like the no contact late hit call against Hutchings.

  6. It actually looked like the q/b was tackled into Smith causing the action; just like the bogus late hit where SC defender clearly intentionally misses the q/b on the ground…penalty anyway…ncaa still screwing with SC

    • An F ing ridiculous call btw- similar to like 5 other calls in the game that were egregious. when will this anti SC sentiment ever end… it’s getting old

    • That’s a bit paranoid schizophrenic…since it wasn’t officials from the NCAA calling the game…

    • There were bruin fans on espn’s board saying USC was getting the short end of the stick with the calls from the officials.
      You know it was badly officiated game for USC when bruin call it out.

      • Nobody forces us to play football. Also, concussions and brain injuries happen in other sports such as soccer, hockey, boxing, karate, judo, skateboarding, skiing, competitive horseback riding, trick bicycle riding. I think that the answer, at least in football, is technology(uniforms that absorb the blow). Compare the head injuries and concussions with the actually amount of people who play the game and it’s a small %. You can totally eliminate that small %. Just lock yourself in a closet. There is always going to be risks in life. Personally, I think marajuana and drugs cause brain injuries and the government is going out of its way to legalize them.

          • Yeah….I’m really bad with those micro-aggressions. I guess I’m just one of those “deplorables” that Hillary talked about. Maybe Wolfie needs to set up some “safe zones” on his forum.

  7. A bogus penalty from an incompetent ref drop out of the Braille Institute.

    Almost as bad as giving the ball back after we recovered the fumble.

  8. That was NOT targeting. What a sham call! Slo-mo replay shows Smith in an almost vertical position, kind of gliding into McSorely without being able to stop. HE NEVER LOWERED HIS HELMET.

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