Friday night college football often presents unusual moments. This week, we got a wild fake punt as No. 19 USC took on Northwestern at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Nothing about the play itself was necessarily out of the ordinary, as the Trojans punter went to pass instead of kicking the ball away on fourth-and-6 near the start of the second quarter. However, the identity of the punter threw everyone for a loop, even the national broadcast.
USC’s punter, Sam Johnson, wears No. 80 and he’s already sent away 13 punts this season. However, the Trojans sent out their other No. 80 in backup quarterback Sam Huard to make the play as he threw a dot down the field for a 10-yard completion.
IT'S A FAKE PUNT 🫨
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025
Punter Sam Johnson throws it for a @uscfb first down! pic.twitter.com/eRMSo0gQ2m
As USC players don’t have names on their jerseys, everyone was caught off guard, including the Wildcats and the Fox broadcast.
USC even faked us out 😅
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025
This was actually @uscfb third-string QB Sam Huard who subbed in wearing the same number as punter Sam Johnson!! https://t.co/V6FAU5PLuj
Huard is listed on USC’s roster as No. 7, but he changed his number to No. 80 (the same as Johnson) for one week, according to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times. The sneaky move allowed Huard to get on the field in punt formation undetected to complete the wide-open pass that kept USC’s drive going.
The trickery paid off as they capped off the drive with a touchdown on a six-yard scamper from starting quarterback Jayden Maiava.
Even Fox broadcaster Jason Benetti didn’t know which No. 80 was on the field, and he later found out that Huard is the nephew of his former broadcast partner and NFL quarterback Brock Huard in a hilarious detail.
Later, Jason Benetti learns that this is actually USC backup QB Sam Huard throwing on the fake punt.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 8, 2025
Huard is the nephew of Benetti's former broadcast partner, Brock.
"My phone is going to be a disaster if Brock watches this. An absolute disaster." pic.twitter.com/pPwzgTrECO https://t.co/Tm6JF6hbWa
Who could blame anyone for missing Huard’s brief number change, which USC and coach Lincoln Riley obviously wanted to fly under the radar. We probably won’t see a fake like that any time soon as opposing teams are now onto the new Trojan horse.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How USC Tricked Northwestern With Backup QB to Pull Off Awesome Fake Punt.
