Mora says game officials were off target on plays during Hawaii game; Pac-12 agrees

The Pac-12 Conference acknowledged Monday that a targeting penalty should have been enforced against a Hawaii player for a hit that injured UCLA linebacker Kenny Young on Saturday, forcing him out of the game.

Young departed UCLA’s 56-23 victory over Hawaii in the first quarter at the Rose Bowl after absorbing helmet-to-helmet contact from Hawaii tight end Metuisela Unga. Pac-12 officials working the game did not call a penalty on Unga even though replays showed the player leading with his helmet on the hit, and a replay booth authorized to make targeting calls did not intervene.

That was a mistake, the Pac-12 said Monday, because the play was in direct violation of a rule involving targeting and making forcible contact to the head or neck of a defenseless player. Conference officials also acknowledged that David Coleman, the Pac-12’s director of officials, erroneously described the play during the game broadcast.

“Eliminating contact to the head and neck area of defenseless opponents is a critical safety rule and the Pac-12 stands behind those rules and protecting student athletes,” the Pac-12 said in a statement. “The Pac-12 will continue to work with its officials to ensure that they are diligent in enforcing player-safety rules.”

Officials are graded for their performance every game and those who are downgraded could have their game assignments impacted.

UCLA coach Jim Mora said that the Pac-12’s statement could not rectify what happened during the game.

“I’m not pleased with the fact that Kenny Young took that violent of a hit and nothing was done about it,” he said. “Nothing rectifies that. I mean, that was a vicious, violent, intentional hit on a defenseless player — it was the definition of targeting, the absolute definition. It was clear, it was concise, it was beyond reproach that it was a violent, flagrant target and for some reason the process failed and they’ll address that.”

Young did not return to the game and Mora said the Bruins would be “very, very careful” with the head trauma suffered by Young and safety Jaleel Wadood, who took a knee to the head in the second quarter, forcing him out of the game.

“With all head injuries,” Mora said, “we are always going to err on the side of caution and so we’ll just see how they progress.”

UCLA lost another linebacker in the fourth quarter when Josh Woods was ejected for a targeting penalty. Referees ruled that Woods had made what the NCAA rule book considers “forcible contact” with Hawaii receiver Kalakaua Timoteo on a fourth-down pass that fell incomplete.

As a result of the call, Woods must also sit out the first half of the Bruins’ game against Memphis on Saturday at the Liberty Bowl. UCLA cannot appeal the decision even though Mora said there was no intent on Woods’ part to inflict injury.

“If you look at the film objectively,” Mora said, “you see that Josh was actually turning to try to avoid a targeting foul. By the definition of the rule, it was targeting, but it was not a flagrant, intentional target. It was a young man who was trying to respect his opponent and avoid a big hit.

“He could have, if he would have wanted to — it would have been really, really ugly— but because he’s a good kid, because he’s been well coached, because he understands the rule, because he’s smart, he did all he can to avoid really potentially injuring an opponent, and unfortunately, there’s no mechanism for an appeal.”

Mora said he hoped that the NCAA would consider creating two levels of targeting penalties to eliminate unfairly punishing players. A Level 1 penalty, the most severe, would entail an ejection and automatic suspension for the first half of the next game if the infraction occurred in the second half. A Level 2 penalty would be confined to a 15-yard penalty.

“Level 2, you say, ‘You know what, it wasn’t intentional, we’re going to give you the flag,’” Mora said, “‘but we’re not going to eliminate you from play for the next week.’”

Mora said he viewed Woods’ penalty as unnecessarily harsh given the lack of intent to injure.

“These are college kids, they’re not professionals,” Mora said. “They get 12 shots to play [per season]. They lay it all on the line for these 12 opportunities to play and here’s a young man, Josh Woods, that does everything right, that’s trying to avoid the big hit, and he’s penalized by losing half of a game.

“It’s just so, so, very, very, very wrong, especially when you talk about all the money he’s making for the NCAA for going out and playing. It’s just so, so convoluted, I can’t even imagine it.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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