USC pulled off an astonishing fake punt on Friday night – one which fooled Fox broadcasters Jason Benetti and Robert Griffin III in more ways than one.
Early in the second quarter against Northwestern, USC looked set to punt from inside their own territory when punter Sam Johnson seemingly found Tanook Hines for a 10-yard completion and a first down.
‘Oh, it’s a fake!,’ Benetti said as the play was unfolding.
Former NFL star Griffin, meanwhile, described the impressive lefty pass as a ‘dime piece.’
USC wound up scoring a touchdown on the drive, but after Benetti and Griffin praised Johnson’s throwing abilities, there would prove to be one more twist: it wasn’t actually the punter who threw the ball.
Instead, as Benetti realized on air several minutes later, USC actually put the punter’s No. 80 on their backup quarterback Sam Huard.
USC backup quarterback Sam Huard faked out the Northwestern defense – and the Fox broadcasters – as he changed his number to pull off a fake punt
Robert Griffin III praised the pass as a ‘dime piece’ and thought it had been the punter throwing
College teams are allowed to have two players use the same number as long as they do not appear on the field at the same time.
‘You know why the form was that good? You know why that form was that good? They snuck the other 80 on,’ Benetti explained several minutes later on the broadcast.
Griffin added: ‘They snuck the other No. 80 on to come in and throw the pass,’ Griffin said. ‘Now that is what you call Grade-A deception.’
Huard, as Awful Announcing noted, is the nephew of Benetti’s former broadcast partner, Brock Huard.
‘And I got to tell you. My phone is going to be a disaster when Brock watches this. An absolute disaster,’ Benetti joked.
Brock then teased his friend on X, as he re-posted the clip and wrote: ‘FIELD DAY indeed….’
Ultimately, Huard’s fake punt pass was the only throw he would attempt on the night as the Trojans went on to win 38-17.
USC is now 7-2, while Northwestern fell to 5-4 on the year.