Texas football right to appeal BS targeting call on DeMarvion Overshown

Possibly the worst call of the weekend in the hard-fought matchup between No. 21 ranked Texas football and the UTSA Roadrunners on Sep. 17 at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin came in the second half. The refs flagged senior Texas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown for targeting pretty late in this game, which is costly for this team.

To make matters worse, this was the second time in the last two games that Overshown was flagged for targeting when the call didn’t look appropriate for the play at hand. Last weekend, Overshown was flagged for targeting on that weird play in the end zone that should’ve been a safety called on star Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young.

Yet, the refs found some sort of middle ground without calling much of anything on that play with Overshown and Young.

This time around, the refs called Overshown for targeting on a play that was at least helmet-to-helmet. But the fact of the matter was that Overshown didn’t lead with the crown of his helmet and the UTSA quarterback (senior Frank Harris) wasn’t really a defenseless player at the time.

The refs even went to review this targeting call and it was still upheld. That is maybe the most shocking part of this entire saga. You have to review targeting calls in college football to see if the call should be upheld and if the player should be ejected.

Texas football appealing the poor targeting call on LB DeMarvion Overshown

And after looking at this play at least a few times through, Texas managed to still see Overshown get ejected from this game.

In his postgame press conference on Sep. 17, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian stated that he is planning on appealing this targeting call with the Big 12 this week. Texas will at least try and get Overshown back for the first half of their Big 12 opener next weekend.

And with the NCAA definition of targeting and what a defenseless player is (per referee.com), Texas should in theory have a shot of getting this call overturned. This did not look to be a dirty hit, and the ball was not released when Overshown hit Harris on this play.

Yet, the determination will be left to the Big 12 as to whether Harris was a defenseless player and this targeting call was correct.

If the Big 12 does overturn this call, it would be huge as the Longhorns would be able to get Overshown back for the conference opener against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the road on Sep. 24. Getting Overshown back for that game would give Texas one of their biggest defensive leaders back in the fold from the get-go.

Although, if the Big 12 doesn’t overturn this call after the Longhorns’ appeal this week, Overshown will be out for the first half against Texas Tech.

Overshown and the Longhorns will head into this battle with the Red Raiders sporting a record of 2-1 (0-0 Big 12) after the 41-20 win over UTSA at home on Sep. 17. Kickoff time between Texas and Texas Tech on Sep. 24 is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.