Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome contact." Kelly said he hopes to be one of those people in that room working to a better solution following the season. He said his biggest qualm with the rule is that certain conferences interpret it in different ways than others. The NCAA's rules oversight panel approved the targeting rule and its accompanying ejection policy in March in response to growing medical evidence about the devastating aftereffects of football head injuries. The reminders of why the rule exists were not hard to find in the week before and after Tuitt's hit. Pitt defensive back Trenton Coles needed a pair of trainers to carry him off the field in the second half after his head smashed into a teammate's shoulder pads in the third quarter. That same weekend, a high school player in Arizona died suddenly from a head injury during a playoff game. Two days later, The Washington Times published a story about a Division III football player in Mary- land who died from repetitive brain trauma. In the week leading up to the game, former Pitt star running back Tony Dorsett — who led the Panthers onto the field when Notre Dame last visited Heinz Field in 2011 — announced he has been diagnosed with CTE, a degenerative brain disease that has reshaped the way America views its favorite game. The new rule and its stiff consequences are designed to train players to make safe tackles, wrapping ball carriers with their arms instead of hurling their bodies headfirst at oncoming opponents. Supporters maintain that the strict consequences are necessary to change the way defenders tackle. Coaches are afraid it will keep players from "selling out" and giving a full effort to make stops for fear of an incidental hit that ends their day. "When a 320-pound inside player is running from the hash to the numbers at full speed and trying to make a play and gets thrown out of the game, I don't think that's what the rule was intended for," Kelly said. Head injuries are unavoidable in a fullspeed football game. There are no rules that can stop helmets from crashing into the turf or shoulder pads, if not other helmets. The targeting penalty seeks to eliminate those that can be avoided. Kelly and many of his peers hope that future tweaks to the new rule will keep the game from changing in a quixotic effort to stop hits that can't realistically be prevented. Notre Dame Football tickets 2014 Games NoW oN sale Gift Certificates Available 1-800-925-2500 www.NotreDametickets.com