LOS ANGELES (AP) — No. 20 Southern California pulled off a remarkable fake punt in its 38-17 victory over Northwestern on Friday night by sending out third-string quarterback Sam Huard in the same uniform number as the Trojans’ punter.
Wearing a No. 80 jersey, Huard came on the field with the punt team in the second quarter and completed a 10-yard pass to Tanook Hines. The first down extended the drive that ended with Jayden Maiava’s TD run.
This bit of trickery was quite legal, apparently: Huard wore No. 7 earlier this season, but he is listed as No. 80 on the USC roster for this week after coach Lincoln Riley’s team quietly made the change.
Punter Sam Johnson also wears No. 80. College football teams frequently feature two players wearing the same number.
Northwestern coach David Braun credited Riley and special teams coordinator Ryan Dougherty for their creativity, describing it as a “lesson learned.”
“Did not show up on the roster online. Had not shown up anywhere else,” Braun 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,” Braun said.
Huard, who is a couple of inches shorter than the 6-foot-3 Johnson, grinned widely as he high-fived his teammates on the way off the field. He is a former five-star recruit who began his college career at Washington.
“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. Had a guy kind of in his face. … We have some creative guys on our staff.”
Riley said USC had the play in its pocket for the past several weeks, changing Huard’s number in accordance with the rules, but no one noticed it on the game day flip card that includes team rosters and depth charts.
“You guys got to pay attention,” Riley said. “Seriously, it’s been on there for three weeks. I’m glad none of y’all put it on Twitter.”
Bowling Green pulled off a similar stunt in last season’s 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
Third-string Falcons quarterback Baron May switched his uniform number before the game from 8 to 18 — very similar to punter John Henderson’s No. 19 jersey.
Late in the first quarter, May came on the field instead of Henderson and threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Johnson Jr. — although Arkansas State overcame it for a 38-31 victory.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/college-football
