A number of Southeastern Conference coaches Wednesday were asked about Oregon's apparently deliberate 12-men-on-the-field penalty during the Ducks' win last Saturday at home against Ohio State.
Most demurred, with Georgia coach Kirby Smart acknowledging that he's on the NCAA rules committee that's believed to be set to review the framework of the penalty but declining to divulge whether or not it's a scenario his Bulldogs routinely practice.
Of course, Oregon coach Dan Lanning is a Smart disciple who this week did nothing to dispel the notion his team had amalgamated the rules to the Ducks's benefit -- without expressly saying it was intentional.
One coach who measured but did not hold back his comments during the SEC's weekly conference call with its coaches was Lane Kiffin.
In his fifth year atop the Ole Miss program, Kiffin has seen his team as a focal point in a separate college football controversy: feigned injuries, especially from defensive players, that can disrupt or halt an opposing offense's rhythm and flow.
The Rebels have been so much at the forefront that Ole Miss issued a football-wide statement last Friday that addressed the injury discussion.
Wednesday, Kiffin addressed the 12-men-on-the-field discussion -- and marveled at how one element has been praised for its gamesmanship and another one has been ridiculed.
“We have a scenario where that pops up," Kiffin said when asked if it was an element of the game that his team regularly practiced.
Kiffin, though, was just getting started.
"It’s interesting, though," Kiffin continued. "I find all this national talk about someone faking an injury, and people shouldn’t do that; I’m not saying I don’t agree with.
"But, I just found it interesting that everybody thinks this is awesome that you went against the rules and put more people on the field, but then everybody’s (up in arms) when faking an injury. So just found it interesting.”
Kiffin said if a coach and team hasn't already prepared for the moment of such a hypothetical situation, it's already too late.
"A lot, you don't really have a chance in the moment to remember and talk it up without wasting timeouts," Kiffin said. "There's a lot more done in college football that's kind of been in the NFL.
"And sometimes it backfires. We slowed down on our regulation drive around the three-minute mark (against LSU), because even though it backfired because we don't move the ball as well when we slow down because I was trying to use some clock.
"At least we were in field goal range to go up seven and so sometimes you follow it and it doesn't always work, too."