California was down an assistant against Washington because defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi was suspended for instructing a player to fake an injury against Oregon on Nov. 13.
Apparently Lupoi acted alone: Head coach Jeff Tedford was not aware that Lupoi instructed nose tackle Aaron Tipoti to take a dive on a play that was an almost comically bad acting job.
The Pac-10 released a statement from commissioner Larry Scott.
The Pac-10 takes the integrity of the game very seriously. Instructing a student-athlete to feign an injury is an unethical and unsportsmanlike practice in violation of coaching ethics as outlined in the NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations. This behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the Conference. Nothing is more important than the integrity of our programs and the role our play in building good character in our student-athletes. We commend California's Coach Jeff Tedford and Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour for the forthright manner in which they have addressed this issue and for the positive example they are setting by reinforcing the importance of the principles at stake.
Here's the San Francisco Chronicle on the matter. And the Contra Costa Times.
Hopefully this solves an issue that has lingered throughout the season: Defenses trying to slow down Oregon's fast offensive pace by faking injuries. It also was an obvious issue against Arizona State and Stanford, so Cal wasn't unique in this.
Lupoi is taking a fall in order to discourage this tactic in the future, which is a good thing.
But it also would be a good idea if Oregon fans stopped booing injured players. Twice against Arizona on Friday, legitimately hurt players were booed. Not good.
