"NCAA wanted the Texas SEC to win": CFB fans accuse referees of favoring Quinn Ewers & Co. after controversial call against ASU

The College Football Playoff quarterfinal between Texas and Arizona State ended in fireworks, but the drama wasn’t limited to the field. A controversial no-call on a potential targeting penalty involving Longhorns safety Michael Taaffe has left fans fuming.

With just over a minute left in regulation and the game tied 24-24, ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt connected with Melquan Stovall, who was met with a helmet-to-helmet hit by Taaffe, but officials determined it wasn’t targeting.

Fans went berserk over this call by the referees. One fan wrote:

"NCAA wanted the Texas SEC to win. Period."

Another said: "It was. Pure and simple. It’s repulsive. The targeting rule is normally strictly enforced to keep exciting players on the field. Note to sponsors of the CFB playoffs. I won’t see any of your advertising for the duration of the season."

One X user tweeted: "Simple they don't want a non-SEC/BIG10 team in the semi's or finals. Just watch how the ND vs. GA game is called."

"Of couse it is, but Texas had to win...," commented one more.

One fan wrote: "Well it’s Texas so they apply different rules … any other team apart from Texas and Alabama and this gets called.. clear officials wanted a Texas win."

"That was absolutely a penalty. Not enough to get him ejected, but should have been a penalty," said one more.

Sarkisian's men secured a 39-31 double-overtime victory, but the call remains a hot topic.

ESPN anchor and CFB analyst call out "no targeting" call in Texas' Peach Bowl victory

On SportsCenter, ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt said:

“If that’s a random ACC game, it’s targeting 100 times out of 100. It wasn’t in this case.”

Fellow analyst Dusty Dvoracek seconded Van Pelt’s view.

“It’s a defenseless player, forceable contact to the head or neck," he said. "That’s textbook targeting.”

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham also struggled to conceal his frustration postgame, referencing an earlier targeting call against his own team.

“We lost one of our best players in the first half for targeting, and I just don’t understand what it is anymore,” he said.

For many, this no-call isn’t just a miss — it’s a failure in a critical playoff moment.