There is an added wrinkle to a major SEC matchup between No. 9-ranked Ole Miss and No. 13 LSU on Saturday.
On Friday, Ole Miss released a statement to the media regarding questions about players faking injuries on Friday.
“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 statement said.
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Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. (Jeff Blake-Imagn Images)
“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,” the statement continued.
The issue was seen during Ole Miss’s upset loss to Kentucky on Sep. 28. Cameras caught quarterback Jaxson Dart appearing to motion his running back Matt Jones to fall to the ground and fake an injury to get a stoppage in play.
Last week, the Rebels bounced back, beating South Carolina 27-3, but there were a lot of stoppages in play due to Ole Miss players going to the ground. Payton Titus of “The State” noted that there were double-digit injury stoppages from the Rebels, including some players going down more than once.
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Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) passes against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. (Jeff Blake-Imagn Images)
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was asked about Ole Miss’s injuries to defenders after big plays for the Gamecocks in his postgame press conference.
“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,” Beamer added.
“The timing on some of the injuries — it’s a really bad look for college football,” Beamer said.
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Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during the second half against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. (Petre Thomas-Imagn Images)
LSU head coach Brian Kelly was asked about fake injuries being used to potentially slow the game down.
“If there was any faking of injuries in a deliberate action, the SEC would take action on that,” Kelly said during a press conference this week. “I can leave that up to the SEC and let them evaluate that. The (game) officials shouldn’t be involved in it. That’s not their purview. They got to officiate a game. They can’t decide who is injured or who is not injured.”
The highly anticipated Ole Miss-LSU matchup begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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