College football supporters have reacted with outrage to the USC radio broadcast after commentators appeared to blame Oregon quarterback Dante Moore for the hit that left him injured during last weekend’s game.
Moore spent more than eight minutes receiving medical attention before being placed on a spinal board, loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital. The frightening incident occurred in the second quarter.
The Oregon quarterback, regarded as one of the leading prospects for the NFL Draft, was struck by USC linebacker Desman Stephens II as he attempted to slide. Stephens was ejected from the game for targeting.
Stephens faced widespread criticism not only for the collision but also for appearing to celebrate while Moore lay seemingly unconscious on the field.
However, USC radio broadcaster Pete Arbogast drew further backlash after appearing to shift responsibility onto Moore and defend the Trojans linebacker. A clip of the exchange has since spread widely across 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,’ Arbogast said.
Veteran USC radio broadcaster Pete Arbogast appeared to place responsibility on Moore
‘I did not see him put his feet out first. I saw him dive forward, and not give himself up,’ Arbogast added.
When an off-camera observer suggested that Moore had gone feet first, Arbogast replied: ‘He is now, because they spun him around!’
After the broadcast team reviewed the replay, Arbogast maintained his position. ‘Yeah, not a feet-first slide. More of a knee slide. It didn’t look like targeting on the play to us,’ he said.
His broadcast partner, Shaun Cody, stared wide-eyed at the camera during the replay, appearing to signal that he did not share Arbogast’s assessment.
‘This USC radio broadcast footage is just straight embarrassing,’ one post on X read after sharing the clip. The video has since attracted more than 6.7 million views.
One critic wrote, ‘Fire this guy! Credibility destroyed,’ while another posted: ‘Really unfortunate. Arbogast is a good guy but does not see the game very well anymore.’
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy also weighed 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.’
Moore has since addressed the incident, describing the period following his injury as ‘very difficult.’
Moore took a heavy blow to the head from Desman Stephens II while sliding at the end of a rushing play
After receiving extensive treatment, Moore was taken from the field by ambulance to a hospital
‘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!’
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning condemned the tackle after the game while offering an update on Moore and commending his team’s response to the troubling incident.
‘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.’
