Sam Huard, former UW QB, stars in biggest trick play of college football season
1 of 2 | Southern California wide receiver Tanook Hines catches a pass thrown by third-string quarterback Sam Huard on a fake punt against Northwestern, Nov. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Mark J. Terrill / The Associated Press)
By Sophia Vesely Seattle Times staff reporter
Sam Huard, former University of Washington quarterback (2021-22) and five-star recruit out of Kennedy Catholic, starred in one of the biggest trick plays of college football this year on Friday.
The 23-year-old redshirt senior, now a third-string QB at USC, perfectly executed a fake punt in the Trojans’ 38-17 victory over Northwestern at the Coliseum.
The Bellevue-raised Huard had quietly changed his jersey to No. 80 three weeks ago and came onto the field with the punt team in the second quarter. As the Trojans had hoped, the Wildcats mistook Huard for USC punter Sam Johnson, who also wears No. 80. The confusion helped Huard complete a 10-yard pass to freshman receiver Tanook Hines, beginning a drive that ended with a touchdown run by starting quarterback Jayden Maiava.
The broadcasters were equally deceived, praising who they believed to be Johnson for his ability to throw.
“Look at this, dime piece!,” FOX CFB analyst Robert Griffin III said on-air. “Oh my goodness, that punter said, ‘I can play quarterback too, baby.’”
The other caller was Jason Benetti, former broadcast partner of Huard’s uncle, Brock Huard.
“My phone is going to be a disaster if Brock watches this,” Benetti said upon realizing it was Huard’s nephew. “An absolute disaster.”
Brock later admitted to knowing about the prank all along. Brock heard about it from his son and Huard’s close cousin, Titus Huard, a sophomore quarterback at Valor Christian High School in Colorado.
“If I was a better friend to Jason Benetti, [or FOX Sports producers] Bo Garrett and Daren Foster, the whole crew, I could have told them this week, ‘Hey, alert … if you see a No. 80 come out there and throw it with his left hand, that’s not Sam Johnson, that’s going to be Sam Huard,’ but I didn’t,” Brock said Monday on his radio show “Brock & Salk” on 710 Seattle Sports.
Sam Huard was the Huskies’ top recruit in 2020 after breaking the high school state record for career passing yards with 13,214 and ranking third nationally for quarterbacks, per 247Sports. But Huard is just the youngest in a long line of successful college quarterbacks in the family.
Brock is the middle brother of the eldest, Damon, who is Huard’s father, and the youngest, Luke. All three brothers played quarterback for Puyallup under their father and Sam’s grandfather, coach Mike Huard.
Both Damon and Brock went on to play college football for UW (1991-95 and1995-98) before stints in the NFL. Damon played professionally for over 10 years, winning Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII with the New England Patriots. Luke played for North Carolina and is now the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USC.
Damon, likewise, knew about USC’s plans for deception before the game.
“I actually did [know about it] because for three weeks, [Sam] had just been complaining about having to wear this No. 80 on game day,” Damon said on ESPN Radio. “He’s like, ‘Dad, I’m not No. 80. I’m a quarterback. What are we doing?’ Obviously, the trickery worked.”
Huard’s fake-out Friday, masterminded by his uncle and the other coaches on staff, seemed completely legal. Huard’s new jersey number was properly listed on the official gameday roster, even if not on USC’s website. Given how common it is in college football for rosters to have duplicate numbers and that USC is one of the only remaining schools not to put last names on the back of the uniform, Northwestern simply missed the subtle change.
“You guys have to pay attention,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said in the postgame news conference. “That [No. 80] had been on [the roster] for three weeks, so I’m glad none of you all put it on [X].”
Northwestern head coach David Braun even gave credit to Huard and the team’s creativity after the game.
“[Huard’s jersey change] did not show up on the roster online and had not shown up anywhere else,” Braun said. “ … But they did legally submit that. It was on the gameday roster that was here, present at the Coliseum. And the lesson I’ve learned is that for the rest of my career is when we arrive at a facility, we will go over that with a fine-toothed comb … Credit to Coach Riley and his staff.”
The Big Ten Conference, however, later claimed that USC should have been assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, citing Rule 9, Section 2, Article 2 under the NCAA’s “Unfair Tactics,” which states that, “Two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during the game.”
USC is said to have broken this rule when they put Johnson into the game after Huard. The conference will continue to review the situation and determine whether or not to fine the program. Riley defended that it was “a perfectly legal play” Monday on the Trojans Live podcast.
Huard transferred to USC in the spring after bouncing between schools his entire college career. He left UW for Cal Poly after appearing in just one game in 2022, his second season with the Huskies. Huard then left Cal Poly for Utah in 2024 before suffering a season-ending injury. He has one more year of eligibility remaining after being granted a medical redshirt last year.
The quarterback was honored with the marching band’s sword after Friday’s game, hoisting it in the air while on top of the USC ladder. Huard was also given one of the game balls.
“For all the trials and travails and the crazy journey that Sam’s career has been through, like many in college at quarterback, to have that moment in prime time and to celebrate that … that was pretty special,” Brock said on the radio show.
Sophia Vesely: svesely@seattletimes .com. Sophia Vesely is a general assignment sports reporter at the Seattle Times. wrote for the Dallas Morning News and the Orlando Sentinel before joining the Seattle Times in 2025.