So, by now, you’ve heard that No. 4 LSU will be without the services of Devin White when the Tigers face off with No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 3.

On Saturday, White was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter of the Tigers' 19-3 win against Mississippi State.

The call came when White hit Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald.

There was social media backlash after the ejection.

The SEC responded by releasing a statement:

“By rule, no player shall target and make forcible contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent,” the statement read. “The QB on the play was defenseless at the time of the contact. By rule, all targeting calls are reviewed. The call was reviewed and confirmed.”

Here is the “targeting call” that will make Devin White miss the first half of the Bama game. The game is over before it even begins. pic.twitter.com/qf4kLqKlPn — Belle Es You (@SouthernbeLLSU) October 21, 2018

On the same days, just hours apart, Alabama’s Mack Wilson knocked Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano out of the Tide’s 58-21 win in Knoxville.

This play today, where Bama tried to take out Tennessee’s QB, was way worse than the Devin White one. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/AjEgyW79ry — Belle Es You (@SouthernbeLLSU) October 21, 2018

It left some wondering why was White ejected but not Wilson.

Exact definition of targeting. Forcible contact to the head or neck area of the QB. This was 10x worse than LSU's Devin White 2 hand push to the chest! pic.twitter.com/r7469rzpf4 — Jordan Grindstaff (@Jodean85) October 21, 2018

Former SEC official Dean Waite broke down the two plays.

“I’m OK with the call on the field live,” Waite said of the White penalty. “It looked enough like it that I’m OK with it being called. I think when they looked at it, however, they should’ve taken the call away.

“You definitely have a defenseless player. He was in the act of throwing or just got finished throwing, so he was a defenseless player. Basically, the rule says you can’t target or make forceable contact with the head or neck area of a defenseless player with the helmet. It even includes the forearm, hand, fist, elbow, shoulder, anything. You just can’t go to the head or neck area.”

Waite, who officiated SEC games from 2007-2010, said there just wasn’t enough there for him to eject White.

“In order to call a foul, you have to have to one element or indicator of targeting. Some of those indicators are a launch, lowering the head before making contact. What I saw, on replay, was a guy going in. He did lead with his forearms, but what he did was he hit the guy in the chest with his forearm. I didn’t see any effort to hit in the neck or head area. Now, their helmets did wind up making contact a little bit, but that was a result of the shove.”

My handheld angle of the #DevinWhite hit from the Videoboard. My feeling is #LSU shouldn't lose #40 for this tackle. Not a malicious hit. Your thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Fua0K5LHIn — Garrett Walvoord (@Mr_Playbyplay) October 21, 2018

So, the question, is did White launch.

“It does look like his feet came off the ground,” Waite admitted. “But again, I didn’t see any effort to go to the neck or head area. It just isn’t leaving your feet. You have to be launching to attack your opponent in the head or neck area.”

On the other hand, Waite saw nothing wrong with the Wilson hit.

“It looks absolutely fine with no call there,” he explained. “I didn’t see anything. He didn’t lower his head. I saw a guy keep his helmet up and went squarely in Guarantano’s chest. Any resulting contact from the helmet was a result of knocking the quarterback’s helmet down. That was right in the chest to me. I’m absolutely fine with no call there, even live.”

Targeting calls, Waite said, are the toughest for officials to call.

“These officials do a tremendous job week in and week out,” Waite said. “Targeting is, in my opinion, the toughest call to make from the field and in the replay booth. I think we’re seeing that with some of the inconsistent rulings from week to week. But, they’re all working as hard as they can to get it right. I can assure you of that.”

He was asked to speculate why the replay booth confirmed the White call on the field.

“If it was anything, it was the feet coming off the ground on the launch,” he said. “To me, it just didn’t look like he was trying to hit him in the neck or head area. That’s probably what it was, if I had to guess.”

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.