Big Ten says USC should have been penalized on fake punt play under the NCAA’s Unfair Tactics rule

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Southern California should have been assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during its game against Northwestern for having a reserve quarterback who executed a fake punt wear the same number as the Trojans’ regular punter, the Big Ten announced Sunday.

Early in the second quarter of Friday’s game in Los Angeles, third-string quarterback Sam Huard lined up in the punter’s spot wearing jersey No. 80 on a fourth-and-6 play. He took the long snap and completed a pass to Tanook Hines for a 10-yard gain. The Trojans scored a tie-breaking touchdown five plays later and won 38-17.

Sam Johnson, the Trojans’ regular punter who wears No. 80, punted for the first time on the next possession. At that point, the Big Ten said in a statement, USC should have been penalized under the NCAA’s “Unfair Tactics” rule (Rule 9, Section 2, Article 2).

Paragraph D states, “Two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during the game.”

The Big Ten said it would continue to review the situation with both schools.

Huard is listed as No. 7 on the Trojans’ official online roster. He was listed as No. 80 along with Johnson on the game-day roster.

It is common for college football rosters to have duplicate numbers, but typically one of the players is on offense and the other is on defense.

Northwestern coach David Braun did not complain about the play after the game.

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