re: Has tackling become a lost art in cfb?

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I'd rather see us start teaching shoulder first, pull-down tackling than have the sport banned or people stop playing.

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Same here. Shoulder injuries will become more prevalent, but the form tackle could be revamped and almost as effective using a head to the side method. One problem will always be occasional missed tackles though, as the face to the numbers puts you right in the trajectory of the runner. If the runner shifts, the likelihood of the tackler adjusting in time lowers, as your point of reference is farther to the outside.

It is hard to tell from that angle whether or not that GA hit was targeting. However, it is easy to tell that it was not a good form tackle. I agree with those that have said that most of the bad tackling I see is plays like that - going for a big hit and not wrapping up.

BTW - when I was in high school in the late 80s, we were taught to tackle by putting the crown of our helmet in the ballcarrier's chin to turn their head and then wrapping your arms around them. Not saying that was right - just that times have changed

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agree, a better thread title would be "Has hitting hard become illegal in CFB?"

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Science be damned. I don't see an issue adjusting tackling techniques to lower permanent brain injury/neck injuries. You can still play aggressively and have violent collisions. But alas, people are always afraid of change.

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The targeting rule, while loathesome, may go towards bringing more fundamentally sound tackling back.

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I've thought this as well. It will force form tackling as opposed to the more or less spearing-with-no-wrap-up that has become so prevalent.

I know adding additional rules may turn some people off but in rugby it is a penalty if you tackle a player without attempting to wrap.

First few years of this might be a bit penalty ridden but long term would be exteremly beneficial to the game.

ETA: Also illegal in rugby for a tackle to occur above the shoulders.

No one practices wrapping up & "tackling to the ground" any more except for a few practices in the spring & early in fall practice. Everyone just goes "thud" in season even on full pad days while worrying about injuries & concussions. Tackling technique will only get worse, not better IMO...

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I know adding additional rules may turn some people off but in rugby it is a penalty if you tackle a player without attempting to wrap.

First few years of this might be a bit penalty ridden but long term would be exteremly benefical to the game.

ETA: Also illegal in rugby for a tackle to occur above the shoulders.

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This makes a lot of sense and would be far less subjective than this targeting BS we have to deal with. As a UGA fan I'm jaded as two calls against us were used as the "Five examples of how bad the rule is"....and both resulted in us losing a game. Hitting shoulders and below and being required to wrap up seems more than reasonable to me. Now what you do with a 225lb RB who runs with his pads low- as he has been taught to do since grade school- I don't know...

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Really, if you look at it, it was piss-poor tackling form by the UGA player. He only knocked the Vandy guy down because he blind-sided him.

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While true, you should know that it was 4th and 5 (or so) so dislodging the ball when you have that type of blindside shot isn't a bad play. In fact it was a game winning play.

As a few folks have pointed out the Hogs tackling got better as the season went on and our defense got a lot better because of it. It may take a while but with big hits up high starting to draw flags coaches will eventually have to start teaching proper wrap up tackling again.

If the runner initiates the contact, it is play on. I havent seen a call in rugby that wasnt deserved in terms of either intentional or the defender could have done better.

Trying to eliminate head on collisions in a contact sport is futile but I think rugby compared to football is doing a better job of curtailing it while maintaining the sport's integrity.