Lincoln Riley does not deviate from his belief that USC punt fake pulled it out last Friday in my win over Northwestern fully complied with NCAA rules.
“The fake punt was completely legal,” Riley said Tuesday. “Our guys did a fantastic job and there's nothing more to say.”
The play in question in Friday's game looked like a routine fake punt, with USC and Northwestern tied at 7 points apiece early in the second quarter. But unbeknownst to Northwestern, USC's third-string back Sam Huard, wearing the same uniform number as Sam Johnson, the Trojans' regular starter, was the player. Huard, who had quietly moved to the 80 weeks earlier, hit freshman receiver Tanuk Hines for a first down and USC went on to score.
“It was just well thought out by a few of our staff members that were involved,” Riley said after the game.
The next morning, the Big Ten Conference made it clear that it didn't think so.
In its statement, the conference pointed to NCAA Football Rule 9, Section 2, Article 2, entitled “Unfair Tactics,” which states that “two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during a game.”
But he also notes that any penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct would have been applied when Johnson, the real player, took to the boat on a subsequent trip.
Northwestern coach David Brown subsequently took the blame for missing Huard's number change. However, USC did not change the number in its online lineup or weekly game notes.
Most former football rules officials and analysts agreed with the Big Ten's interpretation. Terry McAuley, an NBC analyst and former official, wrote on social media that USC “clearly broke the rules” before expressing his frustration that USC fans were “twisting themselves into knots defending their team.”
“Those who try to explain that USC #80 was not a position player game deserve attention,” McAuley wrote. “At best they are incredibly pedantic, at worst they are willfully stupid.”
Riley clearly feels differently.
“We are very aware of the rules,” he said.
