NCAA Has New Interpretation Of Fake Slide Following Pittsburgh Quarterback’s Move In ACC Championship Game

University of Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett is changing the game. Literally. 

During Saturday’s ACC Championship game against Wake Forest, Pickett used a fake slide to freeze the defense and score a 58-yard touchdown. 

KENNY PICKETT FAKED THE SLIDE AND RAN 58 YARDS FOR THE TD 😱 pic.twitter.com/EypNNJZYHE

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 5, 2021

The move angered many in sports media, with more than a few calling the play unfair due to the fact that once a quarterback goes into his slide motion, defenders risk a penalty if they attempt a tackle.  

While there was no rule against Pickett’s slick move, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson called for the NCAA to consider one following the game.  

“If that is the rule, I will just have my guy fake knee all the way down the field and really, what do you do?” Clawson said. “So it’s something the NCAA is going to have to look at, and you know, you can’t fake a slide.”

“You just train your players, as soon as your quarterback starts sliding, you stop because if you touch him it’s going to be a penalty,” Clawson said. “He started his slide and our kids stopped playing. I don’t think he did it intentionally, but if he did he’s brilliant. I just think he reacted as an athlete. But what do you tell your players? The quarterback is protected, and there are two guys there who could have made a play but stopped playing because he started to slide.”

On Thursday, the NCAA changed the interpretation of the fake slide, calling on officials to declare the ball dead when the ball carrier begins to give himself up. 

“Any time a ball carrier begins, simulates, or fakes a feet-first slide, the ball should be declared dead by the on field officials at that point,” NCAA national coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said in a memo. “The intent of the rule is player safety, and the objective is to give a ball carrier an option to end the play by sliding feet first and to avoid contact. To allow the ball carrier to fake a slide would compromise the defense that is being instructed to let up when the ball carrier slides feet first.”

As expected, a fake slide will cause the ball to become dead effective immediately. It is not reviewable. https://t.co/T6xTB1R2Zf pic.twitter.com/iOdx984OZo

— Terry McAulay (@SNFRules) December 9, 2021

Pickett, who will be one of four college football players vying for the Heisman trophy on Saturday, told reporters after the game that the move was not planned. 

“I just kind of started slowing down and pulling up and getting ready to slide, and I just kind of saw their body language and they just pulled up as well,” Pickett said. “… I have never done that before. I just kind of kept going after I initially started to slide.”

Pittsburgh ended up winning the ACC Championship Game 45-21, and will play Michigan State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 30. 

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

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