Michigan State DB Isaiah Lewis Ejected for Targeting vs. Northwestern

Another week of college football, another player ejected under the controversial targeting rule. Isn't it just marvelous?

We were less than a half hour into the college football Saturday when Michigan State defensive back Isaiah Lewis was thrown out of the Northwestern game for hitting Kain Colter a little inappropriately.

You be the judge:

In the GIF, it appears Colter is losing possession of the football and seems to have bent over in hopes of not losing the ball. That's when Lewis drops the hammer on the ball-carrier. It looks vicious and could certainly fall under the rules of targeting, but as with all of these calls, what did you really expect the defensive player to do?

Yes, sometimes defenders are out there headhunting and looking to deliver the big blow on purpose. However, if the ball-carrier ducks his head or lowers his body, the hit by the defender is going to be a little high.

This isn't brain surgery, folks.

And with the way targeting calls have flip-flopped throughout the year, it's tough to really gauge what is and what isn't intentional.

The unfortunate part of this play is that Michigan State loses its senior defensive back, who has 33 tackles, six passes broken up and two interceptions on the season. Northwestern also likely loses its quarterback for the remainder of the game:

It's just an all-around poor situation for both teams.

While it may seem like players are ejected every five minutes under this questionable rule, Big Ten players have actually had great success of avoiding the ejection:

Well, there's still another week of the regular season to go.