Football rules analyst discusses USC’s controversial fake punt against Northwestern

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

During Friday’s game against Northwestern, USC pulled off a controversial fake punt. The Trojans sent out third-string quarterback Luke Huard wearing the jersey number of punter Sam Johnson, who completed a pass to pick up a first down.

But was the play legal? In an interview with The Athletic, former referee and current Fox Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira discussed the play.

”Huard was lined up as the punter,” Pereira said. “So therefore that’s actually a 15-yard penalty because both he and Johnson lined up as the punter [in the game].

“They never would (notice) because another thing that makes it hard is USC’s one of the teams that doesn’t have names on their uniform. Not that they would memorize names, either . . . “You’re not as an official going to look into the face and say, ‘Oh wait a minute, that doesn’t look like Johnson, that looks like Huard.’”

It should be noted that at the time of the fake, Johnson had not yet come into the game for an actual punt. Therefore, the penalty would have been assessed when the Trojans sent Johnson out on the following drive, not on the fake with Huard.

One could also make the simple point that since Huard never punted the ball, USC wasn’t playing two punters, only one. The rule isn’t that two players can’t have the same number; the rule is that two players at the same position can’t have the same number. If one player never punted, USC can legitimately claim it never played two punters with the same number, and therefore did not commit a penalty.

This was actually an instance of the Trojans’ tradition giving them a competitive advantage. For years now, some USC fans have complained about the program remaining steadfast in its tradition and not putting player names on jerseys. In this instance, however, that helped the Trojans, as it made it more difficult for Northwestern to realize that it was Huard on the field rather than Johnson.

Regardless, the play is in the past now. USC won the game by three touchdowns, so it is not as if that one call determined the outcome. The Trojans’ focus should now be on moving forward and their matchup with Iowa this upcoming week.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Rules analyst talks USC football’s fake punt against Northwestern

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos