Oregon’s game against USC last Saturday was a game for the ages, and one that will be remembered by Ducks fans for years to come. Unfortunately, it will be remembered most for an incident that took place in the middle of the second quarter, with Oregon down 3-7.
The Ducks were moving down the field in their second drive of the game. On 2nd and 9 from the USC 23-yard line, Dante Moore scrambled for a first down, and Desman Stephens II delivered a hit that reverberated through both fan bases and the entirety
of college football.
The hit, which caused Moore to go into convulsions, was correctly ruled as targeting, and there was a long, dreadful pause while Moore was attended to on the field and eventually carted away and taken to the hospital. The extent of the injury was unclear, but here we had an excellent observation from a medical professional about what we had seen:
Oregon fans were shocked, and concern about Moore quickly turned into rage. It’s a fact that in this day and age, stories and video move on social media with lightning speed. What spread like a wildfire was the conduct of Desman Stephens after the hit.
Stephens is looking back toward Moore, and he can’t possibly avoid seeing Moore on the ground while the Ducks quarterback is surrounded and being attended to. Stephens delivered a knockout blow and celebrates, seemingly unconcerned that his hit may have altered a young person’s life permanently.
Is he celebrating? Indeed he is, because on the sidelines he is smiling and yukking it up with players and coaches.
Another view after the hit:
Football is a rough game, and players get hurt, both intentionally and unintentionally. Yes, Oregon fans are going to be livid about a targeting hit that knocks out one of their own. But what really turned the reaction to extreme anger was the conduct of the USC player. This was not a moment to be celebrating; however, that’s not what we are witnessing.
If that wasn’t enough, the predictable drone of USC naysayers and apologists on social media sent Oregon fans (including myself) raging. All of the talk about it not being targeting or being somehow Dante Moore’s fault was disgusting – and it wasn’t just nameless fans. I saw a since-deleted post on Twitter from Matt Leinart, who I’ll just assume should know better. And the NBC crew during halftime could not have been farther off base with their comments during the halftime show.
Incredulously, and being the first time I have witnessed it, Stephens remained in the game instead of being escorted into the locker room after being ejected for targeting. I was dumbfounded, and doubly so after Lincoln Riley’s postgame comments.
The response at the press conference and at the NBC halftime show was, to put it lightly, tone deaf. To blame the quarterback for sliding – a move that is intended to help keep him safe from a big hit – is nonsense. I was furious at fan comments, at NBC, and Lincoln Riley for their dismissiveness of Desman Stephens’ targeting hit.
The predictable written apologies came on Sunday, from USC and from NBC. You don’t have to look hard to read them. All I have to say is that they seem to me to be inert, manufactured artifices that reek of corporate and administrative arm twisting for the sake of damage control. That further infuriates me, because I don’t believe for a moment that Riley and NBC aren’t still tone deaf in their initial reactions.
-DEEP BREATH-
I’m not here to debate the play, the play calling, or the legitimacy of the penalty call and all that surrounds it. That’s a different conversation. I’ve been enraged at the comments and approaches that I’ve experienced, as I have explained above.
It’s at times like these that I have to remind myself of a truth with fans and social media. The truth I am talking about is that it’s very often the dumbest and most divisive voices that are the loudest. While that is often all I hear, and all that I read on social media on Saturday and Sunday, I can’t twist that into a narrative that these clowns are speaking for all Trojan fans. The rational fans are usually quieter. And while the inane chatter of stupid USC fans rankles me, that chatter is prevalent in all fan bases. It exists in the Oregon fanbase as well, and irritates me just as much.
While I am still hot about the hit and the aftermath, I have to be consciously aware that what I saw and read is not reflective about how all USC fans view this event in the Oregon/USC game. So I’m going to have a Trojan fan, Gabriel Greenlee, have the last word regarding the targeting injury to Dante Moore:
I also wish Dante Moore a speedy recovery.
