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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Won't Face Bad-Boy USC Linebacker

Desman Stephens draws suspension against UW for actions in Oregon game.
Dan Raley|
USC's Desman Stephens has been suspended for this late hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore.
USC's Desman Stephens has been suspended for this late hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The University of Washington football team won't face USC linebacker Desman Stephens, who was suspended for Saturday's game against the Huskies for his gruesome hit that put Oregon quarterback Dante Moore in a Los Angeles hospital.

While Trojans coach Lincoln Riley was at first defensive in his comments about Stephens, who celebrated the play and remained on the sideline for the rest of the game, everything changed overnight in how the school was going to handle an ugly situation.

On Sunday, Stephens drew a suspension and he and Riley both issued conciliatory statements expressing remorse.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound third-year player from Clarkston, Michigan, slammed into a sliding Moore and left him prone on the field during the Ducks' 41-27 victory over the Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Ducks quarterback had to be put on a stretcher and transported to a hospital, where he was said to have the use of all of his extremities.

Stephens made matters worse by smiling and enjoying the moment, which angered Oregon players, who tried to get at him. More bad feelings between the teams emerged following the game. The linebacker was urged to backtrack on what happened.

"Seeing a player injured like that is incredibly serious and my reaction in the moment afterward was completely inappropriate and inexcusable," Stephens said in a prepared statement. "Regardless of what was going through my mind at the time, there was no justification for smiling or celebrating while another player receives medical attention."

Riley weighed in with a similar message in a statement that read, “Desman’s actions in last night’s game are unacceptable and are not reflective of USC Football nor of his personal character. He understands his mistake, accepts the consequences of his actions and will learn from this."

It won't be against the Huskies (3-1 overall, 0-1 Big Ten), who similar to the 18th-ranked Trojans (4-1, 1-1), are coming off an overly disappointing loss, 27-24 to Minnesota at home on Saturday night.

For that matter, Moore reportedly was able to leave the hospital and return to Eugene, Oregon, with his teammates.

Stephens played in USC's previous game against the Huskies in 2024, coming off the bench and picking up a pair of tackles in a 26-21 loss to them in Seattle.

A returning starter who was paired with former UW linebacker Deven Bryant on the second row this season, Stephens opened all five games and provided 19 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a half, a half sack and a pass break-up.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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