USC quarterback changes number for trick play in win vs. Northwestern. Was it legal?

By Jordy Fee-Platt, Bruce Feldman and Antonio Morales

Early in the second quarter of a 38-17 victory over Northwestern on Friday night in Los Angeles, USC executed a wild, fake-punt play that looked like a stroke of genius. According to Fox Sports’ officiating analyst Mike Pereira, though, the trick play should have been called back, and the Trojans deserved a penalty.

Here’s what happened: With the game tied at 7-7 with 14 minutes, 27 seconds left in the second quarter, the Trojans faced a fourth-and-6 at their own 46-yard line. A player wearing a No. 80 jersey jogged onto the field to set up for a punt. All seemed to be normal.

However, when No. 80 took the snap, instead of booting the ball downfield, he swiveled his hips to pass and found freshman wide receiver Tanook Hines for a 10-yard completion and the first down. The play kept alive a drive that led to a USC touchdown, and the Trojans never looked back.

USC punter Sam Johnson usually wears No. 80, but he didn’t throw that pass to Hines. It was third-string quarterback Sam Huard. USC’s coaching staff made a legal number change before the game, listing Huard as No. 80. The senior had worn No. 7 in previous games this season.

“I don’t think Coach Riley has faked a punt since 2017,” said Northwestern head coach David Braun after the game. “And ultimately, it 100 percent falls on me. It didn’t show up on their roster online. It hadn’t shown up anywhere else, but they did legally submit that.

“It was on the game-day roster that was here present at the (Los Angeles Memorial) Coliseum. The lesson I’ve learned from that for the rest of my career is that we will go over that with a fine-tooth comb, and look for any of those potential issues.”

In college football, two players often share the same number. Johnson and Huard were both listed as No. 80 on the game-day roster. Riley insisted that the number change isn’t particularly new.

“You guys got to pay attention,” Riley said to the media, prompting a series of laughs. “No, seriously, that’s been on there for three weeks. So I’m glad none of you all put it on Twitter.

“It was a well-thought-out thing. Several of our staff members were involved in it and had it at the right time, and we had confidence in it. Sam stepped in there, made a good throw.”

Although Braun took responsibility for allowing the trick play to catch Northwestern by surprise, Pereira told The Athletic that the play was not legal and warranted a penalty. The NCAA rulebook states that “two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during the game.”

“Huard was lined up as the punter,” Pereira said, “so therefore that’s actually a 15-yard penalty because both he and Johnson lined up as the punter (in the game).”

Pereira noted one factor that would have made the potentially illegal play difficult for officials to catch.

“They never would (notice) because another thing that makes it hard is USC’s one of the teams that doesn’t have names on their uniform,” he said. “Not that they would memorize names, either. … You’re not as an official going to look into the face and say, ‘Oh wait a minute, that doesn’t look like Johnson, that looks like Huard.’ ”

USC wasn’t the first program to pull off this kind of trick play. Bowling Green executed it last season during the 68 Ventures Bowl against Arkansas State. Baron May, the Falcons’ third-string signal caller, changed his number from 8 to 18. This created confusion with punter John Henderson’s No. 19, and May threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Johnson Jr.

However, in that example, the decoy punter wore a number similar to Henderson’s. On Friday night in Los Angeles, both quarterback Huard and punter Johnson wore No. 80.

Huard also wore No. 80 for USC’s game at Notre Dame last month. The reserve was a five-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle and signed with Washington out of high school.

His journey has been surprising, given his recruiting pedigree. Huard started a few games at Washington as a true freshman but was lost in the shuffle after Kalen DeBoer took over as Huskies head coach and brought in Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. to take over the starting role.

Huard spent the 2023 season at FCS Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and transferred to Utah, but he didn’t play in 2024.

He transferred to USC this offseason and joined his uncle, Luke Huard, who is the program’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Sam Huard has been the third-team quarterback behind Jayden Maiava and true freshman Husan Longstreet. The fake punt was Huard’s first pass completion of the season and the first time he has completed a pass in a game since November 2023.

Sam’s father, Damon, played in 37 games at Washington before going undrafted in 1996. He played eight seasons in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs.

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