The Big Ten Conference has ruled that Southern California University should have been handed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for employing a sneaky tactic during its game against Northwestern last Friday. In the second quarter, reserve quarterback Sam Huard took the field in place of the Trojans' regular punter and executed a fake punt by wearing the same jersey number - 80 - as his replacement.
The move proved to be successful, as Huard completed a pass for a 10-yard gain, helping the Trojans break the deadlock and go on to win 38-17. However, according to Big Ten rules, having two players at the same position wear the same jersey number is against the NCAA's "Unfair Tactics" rule.
In this instance, Huard was listed as No. 7 on the official roster but had switched to wearing the same number as Johnson, who wears No. 80 and punts for the Trojans. While this practice of having players with duplicate numbers is not uncommon in college football, it is considered a rule violation.
The Big Ten has stated that they will continue to review the situation with both schools. Meanwhile, Northwestern coach David Braun did not express any concerns about the play after the game, allowing the incident to pass without further action being taken.
The move proved to be successful, as Huard completed a pass for a 10-yard gain, helping the Trojans break the deadlock and go on to win 38-17. However, according to Big Ten rules, having two players at the same position wear the same jersey number is against the NCAA's "Unfair Tactics" rule.
In this instance, Huard was listed as No. 7 on the official roster but had switched to wearing the same number as Johnson, who wears No. 80 and punts for the Trojans. While this practice of having players with duplicate numbers is not uncommon in college football, it is considered a rule violation.
The Big Ten has stated that they will continue to review the situation with both schools. Meanwhile, Northwestern coach David Braun did not express any concerns about the play after the game, allowing the incident to pass without further action being taken.
! Like, who tries something like that on the field? It's so sneaky, but also kinda clever, right? 
The fact that it worked out for USC is crazy! But at the same time, I get why Big Ten is all like "nope, that's not cool" 
. If you're gonna try some shady tactics, own up to them and take responsibility for breaking the rules, you know? 
Don't just switch numbers willy-nilly without noticing what other people are doing! 
Anyway, I hope they review it properly and don't just let it slide because no one complained.
i mean come on, who tries to outsmart the refs like that? but seriously, 38-17 is a pretty big margin of victory for USC, so maybe they're just trying to make up for all the years they've been losing to OSU 
and btw, shouldn't coaches be more worried about their players not following the rules than Northwestern's coach being chill about it 
, but also kinda clever... i mean, who doesn't love an underdog story? 
it's not like he messed with anyone's safety or well-being. just a bit of creative thinking on the field 
maybe the Big Ten should just relax the rules a bit? 
! But at the same time, I feel for the Big Ten Conference for trying to crack down on some sneaky tactics 
. It's college football, right? Players are gonna try to get an edge whenever they can.
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! And you've got to give the guy credit for his instincts - switching up jersey numbers like that is some advanced stuff 
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. ANYWAY, I GUESS BIG TEN LEADERS THOUGHT IT WASN'T WORTH FIGHTING OVER BECAUSE COACH BRAUN FROM NORTHWESTERN DIDNT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT AFTER THE GAME... I SWEAR, IN College Football LIES AND DECEIT ARE LIKE SECOND NATURE 
The coaches are always getting caught up in these little technicalities that don't really matter to the game itself. It's just another way for them to nitpick and make a big deal out of nothing 
maybe they should just make an exception for college football or something lol 
how big of a deal is that 
and btw, i feel bad for the Northwestern coach for not speaking up about this... it seems like he just let it slide 
... or so we think 
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