AUSTIN, Texas — Sam Acho put it in the most appropriate terms possible.
The Texas defensive end watched the bizarre conclusion to the LSU-Georgia game, including two excessive-celebration penalties that drastically affected the outcome in the Tigers' 20-13 win.
 BRANT SANDERLIN/Cox Newspapers Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green celebrates with fans as he walks past back judge Michael Watson. Four seconds later Watson would call a penalty for excessive celebration during the 4th quarter at Stanford Stadium in Athens Saturday Oct. 3. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
"I thought the calls were a little excessive," Acho said.
To use a word.
First, Georgia's sensational receiver, A.J. Green, was flagged for poor sportsmanship after catching a pass for a go-ahead touchdown with 1:09 to play, even though the cameras picked up nothing out of the ordinary.
Second, after Georgia kicked off from the 15 and Trindon Holliday made a 40-yard return to set up the Tigers at the Bulldogs' 38, LSU's Charles Scott broke free for a touchdown run but was whistled for his own excessive celebration, after he preened before the crowd. Two-che.
Two huge, game-changing touchdowns.
Two just-as-huge, game-altering penalties.
This is getting ridiculous, and somebody needs to step in and put a halt to this small group of overzealous, flag-waving officials.
In truth, college football has no excessive-celebration rule as such. Really. Those words are not part of the language in Rule 9-2, which penalizes a player for acts that draw unnecessary attention to the individual as opposed to his team, and for taunting an opponent.
Taunting, we get. A kick returner who runs backward and flaunts a defender deserves a flag. A scorer who spikes the ball at the feet of a cornerback merits a penalty. If Charlie Weis chest-bumps Steve Sarkisian into the fifth row, throw the flag.
All very blatant, all easy calls. But nearly every player who scores a touchdown in the game's final minute is going to jump around a little like his pants are on fire. He's allowed. Cut him some slack.
So fix it, NCAA.
Fix it now before a BCS championship game is messed up because of this rule, like last year's Fiesta Bowl nearly was after Quan Cosby's tame, swan dive into the end zone for Texas' winning score.
"Once you leave your feet and go to the ground, you put yourself at risk," Walt Anderson, coordinator of Big 12 officiating, reminded. "But you want to be sure you consider what the intent of the rule is and the intent of the player is, and make sure it doesn't rise to the level of taunting or an unnecessary act. There's nothing wrong with celebrating."
Anderson and his video assistant compile a video of about 25 how-to and how-not-to-call plays from the previous weekend with detailed comments. He sends videos to every Big 12 and Southland Conference head coach as well as 120 officials from both leagues. National coordinator Dave Parry sends one out about every three weeks.
Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp wisely has put an end to those windshield-wiping, "you-can't-see-me" gestures since Chykie Brown was flagged in Wyoming.
Through 36 games involving Big 12 teams, refs have made just two calls for taunting, two for unsportsmanlike conduct and one each for spiking the ball, removing a helmet and improper bench conduct. But the trigger-happy SEC refs call two of those in 23 seconds. The SEC on Monday apologized for the call on Georgia.
As incoming NCAA rules committee member Barry Alvarez told me, even though he admitted he hadn't seen the SEC game, "Officials make mistakes, too."
Alvarez said he was watching his grandson play NFL video games recently, "and half of it is taunting. There's an emphasis to stop all of it. But it's got to be so obvious that everybody in the stadium knows why you threw the flag."
So here's a wish that the NCAA act on the issue immediately and crack down on those refs with, shall we say, excessive flags. Or reduce it to a 5-yard penalty and make it less punitive so teams aren't kicking off from their 15. Or, as Mack Brown suggested, "Go upstairs and go to instant replay."
When the NCAA adopted this rule, it did so with the best of intentions. Too many NFL wannabes had seen one too many clips of Chad Ochooutofhismind and Terrell Owens. College coaches were right in wanting this NFL copycatting stopped.
But too many refs have overreacted. Some used it to do the worst possible thing a ref can do — insert themselves into the action and determine outcomes — and that's wrong.
To quote the mild-mannered Acho, "Honestly, I would do the same thing in their (Green's and Scott's) shoes."
And get flagged. And that's excessively bad.
Kirk Bohls writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: kbohls(at)statesman.com.
