Oklahoma Sooners senior defensive tackle Da'Jon Terry seemed to fake an injury to trigger an injury timeout during Saturday's SEC conference game against Tennessee.
It happened with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter as the game was still scoreless. The Volunteers had just completed a 38-yard pass, making it 1st and 10 on the Oklahoma 10-yard line. As the defense was lining up after the big play, cameras capture Terry walking backwards as he looked towards the sideline when he suddenly fell to the ground without warning and grabbed his right leg.
Kirk Herbstreit had some tough words for players faking injuries after it looked like Oklahoma did that against Tennessee.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 22, 2024
"It drives me crazy...It’s not necessarily against the rules but it’s unethical as hell." pic.twitter.com/TSZ0onC4ug
Play was stopped as Terry was helped off the field by Oklahoma medical staff, although it seemed like he could have walked off the field on his own if he had to. While he was being helped off, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was calling out this type of behavior, not only by Terry but also by other teams throughout college football:
"It's not necessarily against the rules but it's unethical as hell, and you see this all over against these (fast) tempo offenses...guys just go down with an 'injury'."
We have seen fake injuries in the NFL as well. Officials need to come up with a way to discourage this type of behavior, or else this will keep happening.
Terry finished with two tackles (one solo tackle), 1/2 sack and 1/2 tackle for a loss. However, Tennessee beat Oklahoma 25-15.