USC football pulls off elaborate deception to fool Northwestern in fake punt play: ‘Got to pay attention’
USC football pulled off what might be the fake of the century during Friday night’s blowout victory over Northwestern.
Punter Sam Johnson was being hailed as a hero after he appeared to pull off an incredible fake punt by completing a 10-yard pass to Tanook Hines at the start of the second quarter on fourth-and-six. The play extended the drive, resulting in Jayden Maiava’s touchdown.
But it wasn’t Johnson’s play to take credit for.
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Third-string quarterback Sam Huard, wearing the same No. 80 jersey as Johnson, was actually the one behind the pass. And the trick itself? Completely legal.
Huard, despite wearing the No. 7 jersey earlier this year, was officially listed on the roster this week with the new number – a change that coach Lincoln Riley quietly made. College football teams frequently feature two players wearing the same number.
“It was just a well-thought-out thing,” Riley said. “Had it at the right time, and we had confidence in it, and Sam stepped in there and made a good throw.”
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Riley said the change was in place for weeks, and jokingly thanked reporters for not putting it on social media.
“You guys got to pay attention,” he said. “Seriously, it’s been on there for three weeks. I’m glad none of y’all put it on Twitter.”
Northwestern coach David Braun called it a “lesson learned.”
“Did not show up on the roster online. Had not shown up anywhere else,” he said. “But they did legally submit that. Was on the game day roster that was here present at the Coliseum. And the lesson I’ve learned in that for the rest of my career is we arrive at a facility, we will go over that with a fine tooth comb and look for any of those potential issues.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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