USC Linebacker Ejected for Targeting on Hit That Sent Oregon QB Dante Moore to the Hospital

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was carted off the field and taken to L.A. General County Hospital Saturday night after USC linebacker Desman Stephens II drove his shoulder into Moore's head as the quarterback slid feet-first near the Trojans' 15-yard line, according to NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and Sports Illustrated.

The hit came with 10:05 left in the second quarter of a Big Ten matchup between the No. 20 Ducks and No. 12 Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with Oregon trailing 7-3. Moore had scrambled for 10 yards and gone into his slide when Stephens arrived and made helmet-to-head contact, according to Front Office Sports.

Moore lay motionless on the field for several minutes. NBC's sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen reported he exhibited a fencing response, a reflex frequently associated with serious head trauma, according to NBC Sports. CBS Sports reported Moore's eyes were closed as trainers stabilized him on a backboard, though he was moving his extremities and rotating his arms before being loaded into an ambulance.

Officials called Stephens for targeting, and the call was upheld on review, ejecting him from the game, according to Sports Illustrated. Both teams also drew offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after Oregon players, including head coach Dan Lanning, rushed toward Stephens and a shoving match broke out, according to the Sporting News.

The Celebration That Drew Criticism

What happened next is why this story spread beyond a single football game. As medical staff worked on Moore, video captured by NBC's broadcast showed Stephens smiling, laughing and exchanging high-fives with USC teammates on the field and sideline, according to the New York Post and Yahoo Sports, which ran identical coverage of the moment.

The Sporting News described Stephens as either celebrating the hit or egging on the Oregon players who confronted him, and noted the footage circulated widely on social media with fans calling the behavior "sick" and "an awful look."

The hit itself was ruled a penalty, not a suspension-triggering ejection tied to intent to injure, and defenders are coached to play through the whistle and hit hard. A defender celebrating a sack or a big stop is normal football. Celebrating in the direct vicinity of an opponent being stretchered off unconscious is different. That's why the reaction from fans, media, and Oregon's sideline was so sharp.

The Coliseum crowd itself didn't share Stephens' reaction. Fans booed the targeting call, per Sports Illustrated, but then rose and applauded Moore as he was wheeled off, a gesture the New York Post called "a classy moment during an otherwise disturbing sequence."

The Rule Context

Front Office Sports reported the NCAA had actually noted a decline in targeting fouls earlier this season, with 117 total targeting penalties enforced last season and 64 of those occurring in the second half, forcing players to sit out the first half of their team's next game under the old rule.

This year, the NCAA is running a one-year trial rule that lets a first-time targeting offender play in his team's next game regardless of which half the foul occurred in. Because Stephens' hit came in the first half and was reportedly his first targeting call of the season, he isn't expected to face any carryover suspension beyond the ejection itself, per Front Office Sports' explanation of the escalating penalty structure: a second targeting call this season would cost him the first half of Oregon's next game, and a third would cost him the entire next game.

What's Next for Moore

Moore, who turned down the chance to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to return to Oregon for his senior season and entered this year as a projected 2027 QB1, was replaced by Oregon's backup quarterback, according to CBS Sports.

No official update on the extent of Moore's injury had been released by Oregon as of Saturday night. CBS Sports noted the loss, even if temporary, complicates Oregon's playoff outlook given upcoming games against UCLA and a Nov. 7 road matchup at Ohio State that already loomed as a potential College Football Playoff eliminator. Whether Stephens faces any additional discipline from USC or the Big Ten beyond the ejection remains an open question neither the conference nor the school had addressed publicly as of Saturday night.