Saturday’s Oregon-USC matchup took a frightening turn when Ducks quarterback Dante Moore sustained a heavy hit from Trojans linebacker Desman Stephens. Moore had already begun his slide when Stephens delivered a shoulder to his head, sending the back of the quarterback’s head into the turf.
Moore immediately displayed a fencing response, a movement that can occur following significant head trauma. He remained on the field for several minutes before being placed on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance. Stephens was penalized for targeting and ejected from the game.
One fan wrote, “He should be kicked off the team. That’s not football. A third user also criticized Stephens, writing, “USC’s Desman Stephens is out for this game, but probably shouldn’t play football for a while. As close to a criminal act as you’ll see on a football field. ” Stephens also appeared to face online fallout beyond the criticism surrounding the game. His Instagram account was reportedly switched to private before becoming unavailable. The account currently cannot be found, which hints he deactivated his account.
