It's becoming clear that the ACC Championship will be a defensive slugfest, and Louisville may have been bailed out with an early non-call preventing a targeting ejection of one of their best defensive players against the Florida State Seminoles.
Louisville cornerback Quincy Riley lowered his head and drilled a sliding Brock Glenn, Florida State's true freshman starting quarterback. All the hallmark signs of targeting were there, as Riley launched towards Glenn, with the crown of his helmet poised to make contact. Potentially the only saving grace for Riley's case was that on replay, the actual head-to-head contact seemed to be glancing rather than direct.
Targeting or nah? pic.twitter.com/ILYxBSon7v
— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) December 3, 2023
Targeting is a controversial call in college football, as it results in an automatic ejection.
Quincy Riley is one of Louisville's most talented cornerbacks, a fifth-year player with 12 career interceptions. This season, Riley has two interceptions and seven pass breakups. He frequently lines up against the opposition's top receiver and has matched up several times with Keon Coleman, Florida State's dynamic, do-it-all receiver. Had Riley been ejected, it would have been a massive swing of momentum for Florida State. However, Riley was whistled for just a personal foul, rather than a targeting ejection.
The flag did push the Seminoles into field goal range, and they took a 3-0 lead a few minutes later. However, Louisville will gladly trade three points for the services of their top cornerback for the remainder of this game. With Florida State down to Glenn, their third-string freshman quarterback, they're relying on defense and opportunistic offense to secure the win. With five minutes to play in the first half, the two teams have combined for just 102 total yards of offense, including just 35 combined passing yards.
A win gives Florida State an ACC Championship, a 13-0 record and a potential College Football Playoff berth. The Seminoles sit at No. 4 in the current rankings but will have to fend off red-hot one-loss conference champions Texas and Alabama, both of whom won earlier today.
