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College football players faking injuries during games to give their team an extra breath without having to call a timeout has been an underlying storyline this season.
The Ole Miss Rebels on Friday addressed allegations that players were faking injuries ahead of their pivotal matchup against the LSU Tigers. Ole Miss is far from the only team accused of pulling off the move over the last few years.
Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban offered a scathing statement on the issue during “College GameDay” on Saturday morning.
“This is the integrity of the game,” he said. “And there’s no player that flops in a game that doesn’t get a signal from the coach to do it – to slow the game down. There’s a history to all of this because, in the old days, you used to have to run off the field if you got injured.
“I mean, I broke my leg, and I gotta run off the field. Well, fast ball came along, so everybody said, ‘If you’re getting injured, stay down – don’t get up. We can’t substitute fast enough.
“So, now, people are taking advantage of this rule. But I think until there’s some penalty for doing it and I know it’s a very sensitive subject for an official to make a determination about, is a player injured or not, but there should be a flop rule. If a guy actually gets up, runs down and right before the play starts, he flops, maybe it should be a charged timeout for that team. I mean, it’s pretty obvious sometimes in these situations where guys are flopping.”
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer questioned Ole Miss’ injuries last week.
“First of all, I hope all those guys are OK.… I got my own problems. We just got our butts kicked 27-3. But it’s fascinating to me how many injuries occur for them after the opposing offense makes a first down or has a big play,” Beamer said.
“You go back and watch the Wake Forest game; it happens a lot. You watch the Kentucky game; it happens a lot. The timing on some of the injuries – it’s a really bad look for college football.”
Ole Miss responded.
“Feigned injuries has become a notable topic in college football, and we realize our program has been part of that discussion. We have been in communication with the National Coordinator for Football Officiating and provided relevant medical information for his review to answer questions about recent injuries,” the school said in a statement.
“We have also updated the SEC office, and our head coach will communicate with our coaches and players to ensure we conduct ourselves properly and are compliant in this matter.”
Fox News’ Ryan Canfield contributed to this report.
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