Alabama's loss of key defender vs. Wisconsin underscores growing problem within college football

The Alabama Crimson Tide learned a variety of lessons against the USF Bulls last week, all of which they hope to bring to Wisconsin.

But one lesson that has been around for a while is targeting.

Yet it still seems to be a problem for all parties involved.

The latest Alabama player to get caught up in the mix is LB Justin Jefferson, who will miss Saturday's first half.

HC Kalen DeBoer spoke to that issue on Wednesday:

Jefferson to miss first half of Wisconsin game

"Yeah, I think every situation is its own situation," said DeBoer when asked about the flurry of targeting calls in college football. "And you know, for probably many of these guys, it's unfortunate because they're really trying to do the best they can. They're not intentionally trying to go in and hurt someone. I know, Justin felt that way. Unfortunately, there's the criteria. And, you know, he [Jefferson] met the criteria for it to be targeting. So that's part of the game. I guess, as an advocate for the game of football, we have to error on the side of the safety. There's been enough that happened throughout the course of the game in the history of the game, to where we had to have some rules in place. And I know that they're constantly being looked at but that doesn't mean we can't stop tweaking things a little bit here and there, just to try to find that common ground. That scenario seems best for all the situations because they definitely don't fall under one category."

As you can see in the above video, Jefferson lowers, leans, and strikes with the crown of his helmet, the trio of rule-breaking acts that made the call easy.

But the call is not the problem.

The problem is that the punishment doesn't always fit the crime. It's one thing if a defender launches himself torpedo style, head first into a player. It's another when that player simply squares up the ball carrier and just so happens to have his head out of place.

That was the case with Jefferson and often is the case with many in college football.

So it's a problem, it has been a problem, and unless the tweaks that DeBoer is speaking to come soon, it's going to continue to be a problem.

Related: Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer explains why he saw the Ryan Williams storm coming from a mile away