In case you missed it, there was a tremendous football game played this afternoon between Washington and BYU. Washington started the final drive down a touchdown (28-21) and pulled off several impressive third and fourth down conversions to keep their hopes alive.Facing third and goal from their own two with under 10 seconds left, Washington made a gutsy move and called a quarterback run for Jake Locker who stumbled but kept his balance just long enough to sneak into the end zone to bring the Huskies within an extra point of overtime with two seconds left. In his elation, Locker threw the ball over his head and jumped into the body of a teammate.
A nearby official then threw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, part of the new celebration rule. Count on that rule requiring some kind of amendment during the offseason because Locker's celebration was mild, to put it mildly.
Washington then faced a long extra point, which was blocked, ending the game with defeat instead of what should have been a gimme extra point and overtime.
In the postgame interview, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said "rules are rules". He's right, of course, but that doesn't deny the obvious that this is a ridiculous rule when calls like that can be made.
Part of the massive appeal of college football is the raw emotion and boundless energy of the players and coaches. There are certainly questionable celebrations that taunt and embarrass opponents or draw unnecessary attention to the player. This wasn't that kind of celebration however, and in my view Washington was unfairly punished in a manner that led directly to their defeat.
This is a mistake, and I hope the NCAA corrects it for next year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-06-2008 @ 7:00PM
Matt said...
That celebration penalty was an absolute joke!I have never seen such a ridiculous call in my life!
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9-06-2008 @ 7:01PM
jrdndd said...
If that was a unsportsman like celebration, every single touchdown scored the rest of the year in college football should have a penalty added to if for the same penalty. He scores with 2 seconds left, drops the ball behind his head and jumps into his teammates arms..INCREDIBLE
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9-07-2008 @ 10:42AM
Mike said...
Dropped the ball behind his head? Maybe that is what you wanted to see. The commentators were having a good time with all you guys. They zoomed in on the play and you couldn't see how high he threw the ball. You could only speculate by the long time it took for it to come back down into the picture. You guys need to stop whining and blame your kicker and th line for missing that extra point. It was still a high percentage chance that it should have gone threw the uprights. Those were obviously PAC 10 refs based on the number of none calls and bad calls.
9-06-2008 @ 7:13PM
Drolz said...
This is a real shame. The corrupt BCS non-playoff format is enough of a party pooper, thank you very much.
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9-06-2008 @ 7:25PM
Ed said...
What a sad way to end a football game. Just ridiculous.
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9-06-2008 @ 7:58PM
LB said...
The real problem with the celebration rule is that is applied inconsistently. I remember seeing a Carolina game when our RB got called for excessive celebration for dropping to one knee and praying in the end zone - yes, praying. Then you have guys jumping around like they just won the Super Bowl if they make a tackle after a two-yard gain and they don't call it. It's ridiculous to call excessive celebration in college football; it should be the NFL rule - taunting only. What's wrong with celebrating? They don't seem to even call taunting in college as much.
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9-06-2008 @ 8:11PM
Leodnut said...
I thought the call was questionable, but then I think the new rule is questionable. The fact is, though, the UW kicker didn't bounce it off the upright. He drilled it about chest high into the oncoming defenders. It still should have been a chip shot, and he blew it.
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9-09-2008 @ 11:44AM
TJR said...
RE: "Leodnut said...I thought the call was questionable"
Nothing questionable about the call what-so-ever; it was simply the worst call I have ever seen in college football; and it directly related to the outcome. The rule states the ball must be thrown high in the air, and that was not even remotely the case. There was no taunting of any kind. This final play will be viewed for some time for the terrible call it was, and is exactly what is wrong with college football today.
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9-06-2008 @ 8:57PM
Jarhead said...
If you watch the replays, the ball did actually get launched pretty high. Probably the adrenaline speaking. The officials should have ignored it.
9-07-2008 @ 12:37PM
JPR said...
Rule 9-2, Article 1(a)(2) asserts that "After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot.
9-06-2008 @ 8:55PM
Jarhead said...
I think the celebration rule is stupid. However since the rule is in place, if you look at the second article under the celebration rule, you can see where the officials were coming on this one: Rule 9-2, Article 1(a)(2) asserts that "After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot." In this case, the QB launched the ball 20 yards in the air.
This is where Bronco is coming from where he says "rules are rules." You may hate them, but you just got to deal with them until you can get them changed.
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9-06-2008 @ 9:23PM
Bob Rossi said...
Let's see, the coach involved (Ty Willingham) had the following to say: ``It's one that they almost have to call,'' coach Tyrone
Willingham said. ``It really should be a no-call, but it's one they
have to call when they see it.'' And the Rules Committee is made up of all coaches.(not a single official). And the Rule Book clearly staes that the ball should be placed on the ground or handed to the nearest official. What part of this do you guys (and Lou Holtz) not get. The call was legit. Live with it. It is not the cure for cancer Most of the writers (including Mr. Grummell, obviously not "Beau") don't seem to understand that
the officlas are going to call what they are told to call. It wasn't a
"bad day" for the officials, it was a bad day for all of you who have nothing better to do but complain. Perhaps Mr. Grummell's helmet got in his eyes when he was studying the Rule Book. Grow up guys and get a life (or if you think you can do better, go down and volunteer to officiate at the local pop Warner or high school games). .
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9-06-2008 @ 9:44PM
SL said...
The excessive celebration rule should be removed entirely. Not only is it impossible to enforce consistently unless nearly every play of the game gets flagged, what makes college football potentially exciting is the emotion! The excitement! I don't want to watch a bunch of robots, and I don't want these young men to be forced to act that way. In all aspects of life people celebrate accomplishments, small and large. Let em play! Let em have fun! Let them celebrate!!!!
If you want to restrict anything enforce the no taunting rule, which quite honestly you don't see much. The difference between celebrating and taunting is clear and can be enforced consistently.
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9-06-2008 @ 10:11PM
mytroutschubby said...
games should be decided by the players not by some official that thinks he is the game.
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9-06-2008 @ 11:12PM
mike said...
If your team is dumb enough to not follow the rules in an important situation like this then your going to lose!!!
Read the rules:
2. After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately
must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot.
This prohibits:
(a) Kicking, throwing, spinning or carrying (including off of the
field) the ball any distance that requires an official to retrieve it.
(b) Spiking the ball to the ground [Exception: A forward pass to
conserve time (Rule 7-3-2-d)].
(c) Throwing the ball high into the air.
(d) Any other unsportsmanlike act or actions that delay the game.
The quarterback threw the ball over his head. What don't you understand? Watch the regular speed replay and you will see that the ball gets thrown up in the air over the quarterbacks head. That is before the network zoomed in and you couldn't see what happened. And before the commentators showed how little they know about college football rules. He certainly didn't return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot.
Bottom line, the refs didn't decide the game- the kicker and his line decided the game.
9-06-2008 @ 10:23PM
Aaron said...
If the celebration call was the worst of this game, then I'd jump aboard and whine with the majority of those commenting. But the officials stunk up the entire game, missing calls that were so blatant that even die hard Husky fans couldn't deny! Something should be done about the poor officiating in the PAC 10 in general. The game shouldn't have been as close as it was. BYU dominated statistically, but the officials kept it close. Granted, bad and missed calls went both ways, but one has to ask why the PAC10 insists on using their own refs in non-conference games. You can think for a long time and come up with no other reason than it gives their teams an advantage.
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9-06-2008 @ 11:20PM
Mort78 said...
Bob Rossi,
You are an idiot.Any non-robot official and commentator feels differently than you.I suppose you're a New England Patriot fan and that you think the tuck rule is legit.Did you believe in segregation a few decades back simply because it was a "rule"?
What kind of gene pool did you originate from?
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9-07-2008 @ 12:33AM
Gary said...
Mort78, does your daughter play softball? If she does I bet you still think the hands are part of the bat, the tie goes to the runner and the rules only apply when you agree with them. As for segregation, it was the law of the land and as such the enforcement of the law was required of all police officers.
The NCAA has been very specific about this rule for many years. There was no judgement involved, no mind reading, and no bias applied. The Washington quarterback violated the letter of the rule and the penalty is explicitly stated. As for the morons in the media who support you, they have even less of a clue about what is written in the rule book than you do and you don't know squat.
9-07-2008 @ 1:20AM
Met said...
LOLOL
"Locker threw the ball over his head and jumped into the body of a teammate."
I was sitting on the opposite end of the field and saw the ball go WAY up in the air after the TD, something Sportscenter won't show you, just to make the rule / call look bad.
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9-07-2008 @ 2:26AM
Bob said...
What a sad way to have a great game have an ending like this! Was this rule placed the way U of Miami players used to celebrate TD's and taunt the opponent?
Common sense zebras & rule committee personnel. I guess most of you guys never played sports and forgot how it felt to make a great play in the closing seconds of a game.
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