As the Ole Miss football team continues to face accusations from opposing coaches and fans alike over faking injuries, the university has issued a statement on the matter and said it’s communicating with college football officials about the issue.
The statement released on Friday – one day before the Rebels’ top-15 matchup against LSU – claims university administrators have reached out to the National Coordinator for Football Officiating, SEC Office, head coach Lane Kiffin, and the entire football team about “feigned injuries.
Ole Miss releases a statement about accusations of players faking injuries on the field pic.twitter.com/zxIIvwFDqt
— Caleb Salers (@CalebSalersST) October 11, 2024
The collaboration with higher-ups comes as Kiffin and company have been, in some cases softly and in others harshly, accused by teams such as Wake Forest, Kentucky, and South Carolina of asking players to go to the ground to stop the play clock or minimize momentum being gained by opposing offenses.
“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 a big play,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said when asked about the incidents last Saturday. “The timing on some of the injuries – it’s a really bad look for college football.”
Kiffin, on the other hand, has been quiet on the matter. Many fans have come to his defense on social media and said if the Rebels coach is telling players to fake an injury, he’s simply exploiting a flawed system all while using the opportunity to urge the NCAA to implement a rule against feigned injuries.
Whether anything comes from the decision by Ole Miss to open the new line of communication over injury accusations is unclear. However, it will be interesting to see if fewer Rebels hit the turf on Saturday night when the team kicks off against LSU at 6:30 p.m. CT.
