Anthony Barr of UCLA Nearly Decapitated the New Mexico State QB

Anthony Barr, the UCLA linebacker who will be terrorizing NFL QBs on Sundays next Fall, pulverized New Mexico’s King Davis Saturday night, drilling him with a brutal, clean hit that knocked Davis out of the game. Of course, the referees, seeing the violent shot – Barr powerfully planted Davis into the turf – flagged Barr for the hit.

It was the wrong call.

It isn’t helmet-to-helmet. And you can see that Barr was within half a step of Davis when the ball was released. As a result, Barr will have to sit out the first half of UCLA’s first Pac-12 game, according to announcers (see below). Hopefully, that ruling will be reversed before UCLA plays 3-1 Utah in two weeks. [via Herbie]

[Ed. The announcers were incorrect. Barr was only flagged for “roughing the passer” and not “targeting,” so no suspension. The “roughing the passer” call was incorrect, hopefully the Pac-12 chided them for that quick whistle.]