College football is changing its punishment for targeting penalties for the 2026 season but will have no new rules governing short pants.
On Thursday, the Football Bowl Subdivision oversight committee approved several rule changes proposed by the rules committee last month. Among the changes is that, on a one-year trial, targeting penalties committed in the second half will not come with a carryover suspension into the first half of the following game. Players flagged for targeting will still be ejected from the game where the foul occurred, and repeat offenders will continue to be subject to additional penalties.
NCAA coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said last month there were 117 targeting fouls in the FBS in 2025, with 64 of those coming in the second half. Miami cornerback Xavier Lucas had to sit out the first half of the national championship game after being flagged for targeting in the second half of the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff semifinal win over Ole Miss. Just five players had multiple targeting penalties last season, and none had three. The number of targeting penalties per game continues to drop every year.
“That’s an indicator that after one, the player works on technique, the coach takes time with them,” Shaw said.
The NCAA created the targeting penalty in 2008 and added an ejection punishment in 2013. Other punishments have been tweaked over the years, like ending the requirement that the player be removed from the field after a targeting foul. There remains little to no support for backing off on targeting itself or creating a two-tiered penalty system, as the coaches association proposed in 2019 to mirror how flagrant fouls work in basketball. The concern is that officials would lean toward the lesser penalty.
Other rule changes for 2026:
• Lowering offensive pass interference from a 15-yard penalty to 10 yards, matching the NFL rule.
• Adding a fair catch kick, allowing a team to attempt a field goal or dropkick after a fair catch, such as on the final play of a half. This would be in line with NFL and high school rules.
• On punts where linemen don’t wear jersey numbers between 50 and 79, the snapper and two adjacent linemen are ineligible receivers. This is a result of recent fake-punt tricks that took advantage of a loophole and have proven difficult to officiate.
Notably, the committee did not approve a February proposal to require players to cover their legs from the top of their shoes to the bottom of their pants. The current college rule requires pants to cover the knees, but it has often not been followed or enforced, leading to some players wearing biker-short-like pants in games. Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell received national attention for his pant length last fall, having fun with the “Thighsman” nickname that took hold as a result.
