The Ole Miss Rebels football program has recently been under fire after being accused of faking injuries during games.
The Mississippi Clarion Ledger reports that during last week’s 27-3 Ole Miss win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, the team had 11 injury stoppages, including an egregious one by running back Matt Jones.
ESPN cameras seemingly caught Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart telling Jones to go down before a play.
Blatant fake injury from Ole Miss vs. Kentucky😬
— On3 (@On3sports) September 28, 2024
(via @ESPN)pic.twitter.com/l09rrJ7cA1
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer addressed Ole Miss’ injury stoppages after the game.
“I got my own problems. We just got our butts kicked 27-3. But it’s fascinating to me to see how many injuries occur for them after the opposing offense makes a first down or makes a big play,” Beamer said, via ESPN.com.
Beamer added, “The timing on some of the injuries — it’s a really bad look for college football.”
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Ole Miss in communication with SEC about faking injuries accusation
Since the accusations were not dying down ahead of Ole Miss’ game against LSU on Saturday, the university said in a statement they are addressing the issue.
“Feigned injuries has become a notable topic in college football, and we realize our program has been part of that discussion. We have been in communication with the National Coordinator for Football Officiating and provided relevant medical information for his review to answer questions about recent injuries,” the university said in a statement, via The Athletic’s Dave Ubben. “We have also updated the SEC office, and our head coach will communicate with our coaches and players to ensure we conduct ourselves properly and are compliant in this matter.”
Ole Miss sent out a statement about “feigned injuries.” pic.twitter.com/n6V4l4fUgT
— David Ubben (@davidubben) October 11, 2024
Prior to their big Saturday game against Ole Miss, LSU head coach Brian Kelly discussed the SEC sportsmanship policy about faking injuries.
“If there was any faking of injuries in a deliberate action, the SEC would take action on that,” Kelly said, via ESPN.com. “I can leave that up to the SEC and let them evaluate that. … The [game] officials shouldn’t be involved in it. That’s not their purview, they got to officiate a game. They can’t decide who is injured or who is not injured.”
The No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels continue to make their playoff push as they face No. 13 LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge.
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