Did Lane Kiffin Have Cody Kessler Switch Jerseys To Confuse Colorado?
Flickr/Neon Tommy
USC’s Lane Kiffin is at it again. First it was blaming specific players for losses, followed by walking out of a 28-second press conference days later. Now he’s under scrutiny again for having players change jerseys mid-game.
In what seems to be an attempt to confuse the Colorado defense in last Saturday’s game, Kiffin instructed backup quarterback Cody Kessler to change out of his No. 6 jersey into a No. 35 jersey, according to the LA Times. This change came right before Kessler ran for a successful two-point conversion. So what’s the problem? Well, Kessler isn’t the only player to have donned the number that day; punter Kyle Negrete suits up with 35 on his jersey every Saturday.
Sure, there are plenty of duplicate numbers on a football roster, but the real question is this: is changing numbers mid-game legal? Kiffin says yes and is insistent that no rules were broken. He says players change jerseys all the time. However, the NCAA rules state that it’s illegal to change jerseys during a game if the intent is to confuse the opposing team.
No matter how much Kiffin protests, it would not be outside his character to use such a deceitful tactic. When taking sides, consider the fact that Kessler put his original No. 6 jersey back on for the second half of the game. And did we mention that the final score of the game was 50-6 in favor of USC? Was it worth the possible rule violation?
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