In the first half of the showdown between Tennessee football vs. Syracuse, the Vols were nearly unstoppable on offense and it was clear that the Syracuse defense was out of breath and having fits in trying to slow down Joey Aguilar.
Right before the end of the second quarter, Aguilar completed a pass to get the Vols just outside of the 10-yard line. In the blink of an eye, the Vols were on the verge of scoring once again. At the same time, though, two Syracuse defenders hit the turf in unison, with one suddenly being injured. They were just trying to prevent UT from snapping the ball again. Give us a break:
Come on - this is clearly Syracuse faking an injury. Didn’t work, as DeSean Bishop scores a 5-yard TD shortly after pic.twitter.com/OP24elR5XY
— All For Tennessee (@allfortennessee) August 30, 2025
Syracuse clearly faked an injury vs. Tennessee at the end of the 1st half
That clip tells us everything we need to know. Again, Tennessee was moving the ball, at the time up 24-14, and the Orange were desperate to not let the Vols find the end zone again. Their defender was on the ground for a little while, letting his teammates catch their breath.
That proved to be a waste of time, as DeSean Bishop ended up scoring not long after and the Vols entered the locker rooms up 31-14 for the halftime break. This season, officials are going to be more focused on preventing players from faking these kinds of injuries.
The new rule states that if a player hits the turf after the ball has been spotted, then a timeout will be charged to that team. If that team is out of timeouts, then a five-yard penalty will be the result. That player will also be forced to miss at least one play.
This is in an effort to prevent people from trying to get away with dramatic acts. Syracuse thought they were getting cute against the Vols, but all it did was delay Bishop from celebrating his score. Let's hope this nonsense doesn't continue from the ACC side the rest of the way.