Dante Moore injury: USC's Desman Stephens suspended, issues formal statement in wake of QB's injury

The defender may have violated the league's sportsmanship policy

Sep 27, 2026 at 12:02 pm ET • 2 min read

USC linebacker Desman Stephens II could face a suspension from the Big Ten after his vicious hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore during the second quarter of Saturday night's loss to the Ducks. Moore was motionless for several minutes and attended to by trainers before being carried off to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion, sources told CBS Sports.

Stephens was ejected for the hit. If the conference determines that his actions were especially violent or aggressive, it may impose additional discipline under its sportsmanship policy. That decision is separate from the targeting penalty, and an ejection alone does not trigger a suspension. 

The Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy grants the conference commissioner, Tony Petitti, exclusive authority to penalize behavior that compromises competitive integrity, civility, or respect during athletic events. This hit could fall under the "civility and respect" designation.

Core principles of the league's policy include integrity of competition, respect toward coaches and opposing players and off-field conduct.

Lincoln Riley reacts to hit

USC's coach allowed Stephens to return to the sideline rather than stay in the locker room after the ejection. He said after the game, he did not see his linebacker celebrating the hit with teammates.

"First of all, I want to say that I hope Dante is ok," Riley said. "You never want to see that out of any opponent. No matter how competitive the game gets. These are all people at the end of the day on both sides. So we wish him a speedy recovery."

Stephens set his Instagram account to private after the loss following dozens of negative comments on his posts pertaining to the hit.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning called the late hit "disgusting" and said there's no room for decisions like that in college football.

Targeting rule changes

College football altered its punishment for targeting penalties this season, the biggest change aimed at lessening disqualifications, including no carryover on a player's first targeting foul.

In essence, if a player is flagged for targeting in the third quarter, the suspension for the first half of the following game has been eliminated.  If the same player gets a second targeting foul this season, he'll miss the first half of the next game. A third targeting foul results in disqualification from that game and the entirety of the next game. 

Since Stephens' foul occurred during the second quarter, he's eligible to play in the first half of USC's next game against Washington on Oct. 3 unless he is suspended by the conference.

Stephens was not made available for comment after the game. The Big Ten has not made an official statement on the hit.