College football fans have been left furious after seeing how USC radio broadcasters reacted to the shocking hit that knocked out Dante Moore in last weekend’s game against Oregon.
Moore received treatment for over eight minutes and was carted straight into an ambulance on a spinal board and rushed to hospital after being knocked out by a shocking hit in the second quarter.
The Oregon quarterback and top NFL Draft prospect was hit hard by Desman Stephens II as he slid, leading to the USC linebacker being ejected for targeting.
Stephens II was widely condemned for the hit and his reaction as he was seen celebrating on the field while Moore was down seemingly unconscious in a frightening scene.
But USC radio broadcaster Pete Arbogast immediately tried to place blame on Moore and justify what the Trojans player did in a clip that has since gone viral on social media.
‘He did not try to slide feet first. And Stephens went in helmet-first, but he kind of ran into Dante Moore, who ducked into that hit,’ said Arbogast.
Veteran USC radio broadcaster Pete Arbogast (middle) attempted to point blame at Moore
‘I did not see him put his feet out first. I saw him dive forward, and not give himself up,’ Arbogast added.
An off-camera observer said Moore was laying feet first, and Arbogast responded: ‘He is now, because they spun him around!’
Then the broadcast team watched the replay. Upon doing so, Arbogast said, ‘Yeah, not a feet-first slide. More of a knee slide. It didn’t look like targeting on the play to us.’
Broadcast partner Shaun Cody looked to the camera wide-eyed as they watched the replay, seemingly insinuating he did not agree with his colleague’s claim.
‘This USC radio broadcast footage is just straight embarrassing,’ read a post on X sharing the clip, that has since generated over 6.7 million views.
One replied: ‘Fire this guy! Credibility destroyed,’ and another said: ‘Really unfortunate. Arbogast is a good guy but does not see the game very well anymore.’
Dave Portnoy chimed in, writing: ‘This is insane but not that surprising. Unfortunately there are far too many homers in sports media. People who can’t be objective when covering their teams. Ruins everything they do.’
Oregon quarterback Moore has since broken his silence after a ‘very difficult’ two days since his injury nightmare.
Moore was hit hard in the head by Desman Stephens II as he slid at the end of a rushing play
Moore was carted off the field and taken to hospital by ambulance after lengthy treatment
‘To my team, the community, and to the World, thank you,’ Moore wrote. ‘These past 2 days have been very difficult, but through all of your prayers I have made progress.
‘There’s times I question myself and the Lord and say Why now? but I quickly remember Jeremiah 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’. I can only worry about today, and making sure I give today it’s full attention. I’ll be back soon. Go Ducks!’
Head coach Dan Lanning slammed the hit after the game as he provided an update on his quarterback and praised the way his team responded.
‘He’s in recovery so I don’t want to speak too soon but he is moving and he does have the ability to move,’ said Lanning.
‘Credit to Lincoln, he asked about Dante after the game. I don’t think that’s anything he coaches, but there’s a reason targeting exists in football, and that’s clear-as-day targeting. It’s a shame that that happened to a good player.’
‘In that moment for me, I challenged myself to focus on the moment and the things that I can control. Their team has absolutely nothing to do with what I have to do, and what we have to do. So we tried to have a singular focus.’
‘Our guys respect the game. I don’t think you’d ever see that from our players, I don’t think you’d see that from our coaches. And again, I don’t think that’s necessarily an indictment on coach (Lincoln) Riley, because I can’t speak to what I didn’t see. And I know he was quick to voice his concern for our player, so I appreciate that from him.
‘But, it’s a disgusting play. You don’t want to see it happen. It’s disappointing that it happened. I’m praying that our player’s healthy, and I’m praying that their player can learn from that situation, because that’s not a moment you want to be a part of.
‘In my mind, that certainly could have been avoided, so it’s disappointing that that would happen. But, I thought our players did a great job of resetting. And on that note, they still showed great violence and energy to make sure that they could take advantage of what happened to the team there.’
