The ACC fined Syracuse $25,000 for faking injuries in its 34-21 win over Clemson. The league reviewed an incident that occurred in the fourth quarter and determined that Orange coaches and players coordinated an attempt to feign injury in order to get a stoppage.
In a statement, the ACC announced that Syracuse has been fined and “reprimanded for the incident,” which occurred with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. The league said its review determined that multiple players, along with a coach, worked in tandem to force an injury timeout while on defense.
“The Atlantic Coast Conference is issuing an institutional fine ($25,000) and public reprimand to Syracuse University for actions by its football team during its game at Clemson on Sept. 20.
“With 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, Syracuse violated the NCAA Football Rule 3-3-6-b, which addressed the feigning of injuries by players, declaring it unethical and contrary to the spirit of the rules.
“The actions by the two players — especially with the concurrent action by the coach in the team area — were a clear attempt to gain an unmerited advantage by stopping the game in order to secure an injury timeout.”
“In addition to review by the league office, the play was also reviewed by the National Coordinator of Football Officials. He also agreed that the action violated the spirit of the injury timeout and fair play and was done in a way to circumvent the new injury timeout rule to avoid the team being charged with a timeout.”
The timing of those injuries was convenient for the Orange, and Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik noticed it, as well. In his postgame press conference, Klubnik called out Syracuse for faking injuries to slow them down.
“We were doing it all throughout the game,” Klubnik said. “We were playing with tempo. Props to them. They stopped us on third down at certain times, and they would have an injury or something like that when we really got going. That’s up to them, if they want to be honest about that. That was definitely tough for us to get into a rhythm. We’re playing fast, and unfortunately, they have a guy get hurt or something. Or a timeout or something like that. … I feel like we came out healthy, and hopefully they did too.”
On the drive in question, Syracuse’s tactics did not faze Clemson as Klubnik found receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. for a 9-yard touchdown to make it a 13-point game.
Unfortunately for the Orange, there was an injury that will have a major impact on the remainder of their season. Quarterback Steve Angeli, who threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, went down with a season-ending Achilles injury.
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