College Football HQ

Matt Jones called out for 'blatant fake injury' in Ole Miss game: Video

ABC announcers called out Ole Miss football player Matt Jones for what appeared to be a blatantly fake injury during Saturday's game.

James Parks

Ole Miss running back Matt Jones appeared to fake an injury during Saturday's game against Kentucky.
Ole Miss running back Matt Jones appeared to fake an injury during Saturday's game against Kentucky. / ABC Network
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Ole Miss running back Matt Jones went down to the field with what appeared to be a fake injury in Saturday’s game against Kentucky, earning criticism during the broadcast by ABC’s announcers.

“Matt Jones, fortunately, survived to walk off the field,” play-caller Sean McDonough said sarcastically during the game. “Just a blatant fake injury.”

Indeed, in the moments before Jones fell to the turf, cameras showed Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart apparently pointing towards the tailback to fall down in an effort to delay the game.

College football rules analyst Matt Austin confirmed that the NCAA’s rule book doesn’t proscribe fake injuries directly, leaving officials without recourse to punish the act.

“There’s actually nothing in the rulebook that says you cannot do that,” Austin said.

“There is very strong wording about being unethical to fake an injury at any time during the game. I know the rules-makers have talked about it several times, but as of right now, there’s nothing you in the book can do about it.”

Kirk Herbstreit also recently called out the practice of apparently faking injuries “unethical as hell.”

“This is college football. It drives me crazy,” Herbstreit said during the game.

“They look over after a big play, and all of a sudden, he looks over and he just goes down. It’s not necessarily against the rules, but it’s unethical as hell. When you see this all over against these tempo offenses, guys just go down with the quote-unquote ‘injury.’”

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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