Lane Kiffin Shares Thoughts On Oregon's Illegal 12-Men-On-The-Field Play Call

Is there a double standard when it comes to faking injuries and other illegal moves in college football?

Oct 5, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images / Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels are in the midst of a bye week, so that gives plenty of time for some big-picture questions to the team's head coach.

According to FootballScoop.com, Lane Kiffin was asked on Wednesday's SEC Coaches Teleconference about a particular move made by the Oregon Ducks in last week's win over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Essentially, Oregon seemed to intentionally put 12 men on its defense for a penalty during a crucial Ohio State possession.

Since the clock did not reset after the infraction, the Ducks were able to defend the Buckeyes with 12 men on the field and run time off the clock in the process, just giving up five penalty yards in return. This move has been the talk of college football since Saturday, and Kiffin tied this instance to Ole Miss' controversy of allegedly faking injuries to slow down offensive possessions.

The allegations had become so strong recently that the Rebels released a statement on the matter last week.

"It’s interesting, though," Kiffin said, per FootballScoop.com. "I find all this national talk about someone faking an injury, and people shouldn’t do that; I’m not saying I don’t agree with. 

"But, I just found it interesting that everybody thinks this is awesome that you went against the rules and put more people on the field, but then everybody’s [up in arms] when faking an injury. So just found it interesting.”

Kiffin does have a point: it does seem like a bit of a double standard. Of course, injuries are a much more serious matter in football than simply playing with 12 men on the field. Injuries are real and can hamper a player's physical health and future career, and faking those is a bad look.

Regardless, it appears the NCAA closed that loophole that the Ducks potentially exposed last week, issuing a rules "interpretation" that gives the offense in this scenario the choice of resetting the game clock to the time before the snap. If Oregon did this move on purpose, it will now be a thing of the past.

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