Ole Miss Rebels junior running back Matt Jones shamelessly dropped to the ground to fake an injury during Saturday's SEC college football game against Kentucky.
It happened with around 6:30 remaining in the second quarter with Ole Miss leading 7-3. As the offense lined up to go for 4th and 4 on their own 33-yard line, quarterback Jaxson Dart gestured for Jones to go down to the ground. Jones was lined up in the backfield looking towards the sideline, but after he looked back at Dart, he suddenly dropped to the ground and grabbed his leg.
This appears to be a shameless stunt by Jones (likely inspired by head coach Lane Kiffin) to have the referees blow the whistle for an injury timeout so that Ole Miss would avoid using one of their own. According to SEC Network officiating analyst (and former referee) Matt Austin, there is nothing in the rulebook that says players cannot do this. So not only are players taking advantage of this gap in the rulebook, but coaches appear using it to their advantage as well.
This garbage will continue to happen in college football until a rule is put in place to discourage it. We say that instant replay should be use to catch the obvious fraudulent injuries such as this one by Jones.
After the injury timeout, Ole Miss decided to punt. As karma would have it, Kentucky scored a touchdown on the ensuing offensive drive to take a 10-7 lead.
[ESPN]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
