Tag: Horns Down

Texas opponents in the SEC can use the Horns Down gesture with 1 exception

The Horns Down gesture is coming to the SEC… unless it’s a direct taunt at Texas players.

SEC coordinator of football officials John McDaid shed some very important light on the fate of the “Horns Down” celebration with Texas now in the conference.

The “Horns Down” has become the most famous way opponents celebrate against Texas. Of course, Texas fans abhor it and want it flagged in any instance. The Big 12 went so far as to designate the act an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. But Texas isn’t in the Big 12 anymore.

McDaid said at this week’s SEC Media Days that context is key when calling any potential “Horns Down” penalty. He pretty clearly hinted that it would not be called a foul if opposing players simply threw down the gesture to celebrate and didn’t do it to directly taunt Texas players.

To McDaid, the act would have to be offensive to the senses to be flagged, which the “Horns Down” in a common sense view is clearly not unless you’re a Texas fan.

“If you took that act out of a football stadium and did it in a shopping mall or a grocery store, would it offend the senses to a majority of the reasonable people in the area, right?” McDaid said, via CBS Austin sports director Bob Ballou. “That signal would not, right? You might have some people that share that signal with you if you did that at a grocery store or at a shopping mall, depending where you are.”

As Texas prepares for life in the SEC, McDaid outlined a world where the Longhorns are just going to have to get used to the Horns Down gestures unless they’re aimed directly at them.

Opposing players seem to have the green light to Horns Down at their leisure as long as it’s not done as a direct taunt.

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‘Horns Down’ gesture is ‘not taunting’ and won’t be penalized per SEC head of officials

“Giving the signal it’s not taunting, it’s not making a travesty in the game or affecting our ability to manage the game,” John McDaid said.

According to SEC head of officials John McDaid, the “Horns Down” taunt towards the Longhorns will not be penalized this upcoming season as Texas and Oklahoma join the conference.

McDaid shared that plan of action Tuesday during SEC media days in Dallas.

“To be unsportsmanlike conduct, I’m asking my officials to use a framework of judgment where the act to be a foul needs to be in one of three buckets. It needs to be taunting an opponent, to be a travesty in a game or it needs to otherwise compromise our ability to manage the game,” McDaid explained. “I ask my officials the act in itself needs to be offending to the senses. If you took that act out of a football stadium and did it in a shopping mall or grocery store, would it offend the senses to a majority of the reasonable people in the area? That signal would not.

“I could see a scenario where an opponent of Texas makes a big play and in celebrating with his teammates, possibly going back to the sidelines and giving the signal, it’s not taunting, it’s not making a travesty in the game or affecting our ability to manage the game.”

Sooners senior defensive back Billy Bowman didn’t hold back when asked about the gesture on Tuesday afternoon.

“It shouldn’t be a penalty anyways, everybody has a hand signal. If you let a hand signal affect you and affect the game, maybe you shouldn’t be there,” Bowman proclaimed. “Allowing us to throw the ‘Horns Down,’ that’s cool and all. If it can’t be apart of the game, that’s pretty soft.”

Texas A&M will host Texas at Kyle Field on Nov. 30. The Aggies could play Oklahoma the following week in the SEC championship game at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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Horns Down may be permissible in the SEC

After the Big 12 made it a penalty to use the Horns Down hand signal, the SEC is allowing context to be their guide.

The Big 12 (and the Texas Longhorns) kept schools from displaying the Horns Down hand sign during games. But it’s game on in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

SEC’s coordinator of officials, John McDaid, discussed the factors that lead to unsportsmanlike conduct, and there are times when Horns Down can be displayed.

“The plain rule that would be applicable is unsportsmanlike conduct, said McDaid “You got to read the context in which it is done. I ask my officials to use judgment of is it taunting of an opponent, is it making the travesty of the game, or is it otherwise affecting our ability to manage the game.”

McDaid added, that making a travesty of the game is something that “offends the senses.” To McDaid, Horns Down doesn’t offend the senses.

He continued to clarify, “if an opponent of Texas were to score a touchdown and in celebration with their teammates and going back up the sideline their giving the signal, that’s not an issue. We have that already in the Southeastern Conference. We have teams that have things like the Gator Chomp or things like the Shark Fin (Land Shark) for the defense where that thing has been done. And over the years we’ve evaluated is it taunting, is making a travesty of the game, is it otherwise affecting our ability to manage the game? And if the answer’s no, then it’s not a foul. Now, if he tackles a player, stands right over them and gives it (Horns Down), now we’ve got taunting and that would be unsportsmanlike conduct.”

Hand signals, and the inverse use of them, has long been a part of college football. It’s representative of the passion of the greatest sport in America. The SEC is letting context be their guide when determining when a hand sign is permissible.

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Texas’ Rodney Terry screams expletive at ‘classless’ UCF players for Horns Down in handshake line

The Texas head coach was super mad about seeing the Horns Down from UCF players.

We know this much: Anytime an athlete or anyone else does the “Horns Down” hand signal at a Texas sporting event, it’s going to make headlines and tick off Longhorn Nation.

So, here you go: After UCF took down Texas on Wednesday night, video shows Knights players flashing the Horns Down as they started the postgame handshake like, and Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry screamed at them: “That’s classless! Don’t do that [expletive]!”

Both Terry and UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins — who said he didn’t see what happened that led to the confrontation — addressed it after the game, which you can watch below (WARNING: NSFW language ahead):

Oklahoma’s Ethan Downs threw out a Horns Down to troll Texas while being recognized during Sugar Bowl

The Red River Rivalry somehow made it to the Sugar Bowl.

Texas and Oklahoma’s Red River Rivalry remains one of the pettiest in all of college football.

It’s so petty that Sooners defensive end Ethan Downs didn’t miss an opportunity to troll the Longhorns while making an appearance during Monday’s Sugar Bowl to honor his off-field service work.

Downs made the 2023 AllState AFCA Good Works Team for his work in the community, and he threw out the infamous “Horns Down” symbol to mock Texas while he got some television time of his own.

If you’re an Oklahoma fan, you have to commend Downs for his dedication to the Red River Rivalry to bring it all the way to the College Football Playoff.

If you’re a Texas fan, well, you can hang your hat on the fact that the Longhorns actually played in the College Football Playoff and Oklahoma could only watch this year.

This rivalry will continue into the SEC next fall, and we wonder if Texas will remember this bit of unexpected “Horns Down” trolling in the next meeting.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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Washington’s Devin Culp boldly taunted Texas with a ‘Horns Down’ after a Huskies TD

A Horns Down taunt this early in the game?!?!

The delightful disrespect was on full display during Monday night’s Sugar Bowl for Washington tight end Devin Culp.

After the Huskies scored a touchdown against Texas during the first half of the College Football Playoff semifinal game, Culp hit the Longhorns with a double “Horns Down” gesture, the infamous Texas taunt that has drawn penalties in the past when directed at a Longhorns player.

While there was still plenty of football left to play in the game, Culp felt more than comfortable to go ahead and get this huge taunt in early.

If Texas players saw this celebration, you can bet they took it personally.

If Washington won this game, Culp called it early by throwing down the ultimate Texas trolling. If Washington lost the game, he definitely threw out the “Horns Down” taunt much, much too early.

Either way, we appreciate the determination from Culp to do this celebration so early in the game.

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What is the SEC’s horns down policy?

How will the SEC handle the horns down taunt once Texas joins the conference?

With Texas joining the SEC next year, the conference has had to devise a new plan for a unique taunting motion directed at the Longhorns.

Indeed, opposing players reversing Texas’ horns up celebration into horns down has drawn ire from referees in the past. But SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid shared earlier this year how the conference plans to handle this gesture in the future.

Per Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, the way the horns down motion will be handled will depend on how it’s utilized. If it’s done directly to taunt a Texas player, it may result in an unsportsmanlike conduct call.

However, if it’s just done in celebration with other teammates, it doesn’t sound like the SEC will throw the flag.

McDaid compared it to the Gator Chomp and Land Shark motions directed at Florida and Ole Miss, respectively, and how those are not always called even when directed at the opponent.

We’ll see how things go on Saturdays once Texas joins the SEC in 2024.

What is the Big 12’s horns down policy?

How does the Big 12 handle opponents taunting Texas with the horns down gesture?

Texas football has one season left in the Big 12 before jumping into SEC competition starting with the 2024-25 season.

And that means how Big 12 officials decide to deal with Texas opponents throwing out the horns down gesture — it mocks the Longhorns’ horns up celebration — could still be a point of contention.

At 2022 Big 12 media days, conference commissioner Greg Burks shared that it’s always going to come down to how the gesture is used against opposing teams.

“Let me be very clear with Horns Down,” Burks said, via ESPN’s Dave Wilson. “I have no ownership on this symbol. This symbol is the same as all other signals. It’s when you do it, who you do it to and which manner you do it.”

So, if you’re wondering how Big 12 referees will call the horns down gesture, you’ll have to pay attention to how it’s happening.

If someone gets into a Texas player’s face and flashes a horns down, it’ll likely be called for unsportsmanlike conduct. If someone does it in the end zone with their teammates celebrating a touchdown, a call is less likely.

As Saturday’s Red River Showdown between Texas and Oklahoma is upon us, we’ll see how many horns down gestures we see, and if they get flagged or not if they happen on the field.

SEC uses critical thinking when it comes to Horns Down

The SEC is utilizing more critical thinking when it comes to the use of “Horns Down” when Texas and Oklahoma arrive in 2024.

The SEC is getting off to a great start welcoming the Red River Rivalry in 2024. If you needed another reason to like the Oklahoma Sooners move to the SEC, you got it this week at SEC media days.

Horns Down isn’t an automatic unsportsmanlike conduct penalty anymore.

To quote the great Toby Rowland: “You can unhitch the wagon! Put the ponies in the barn!” This is a big win in the world of college football.

“Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit one of three categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game?,” said John McDaid, the conference’s coordinator of football officials, per Brett McMurphy. “There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in the face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it with teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline. To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”

It sounds like it’ll simply boil down to the time and the place. If a player does Horns Down toward the Texas sideline or to a Longhorn on the field, then it’ll result in a 15-yard penalty. When Jackson Arnold and Jaquaize Pettaway meet in the end zone after a 60-yard touchdown strike in the Cotton Bowl and share a moment, Horns Down can and will more than likely be flashed.

Where the Big 12 got it wrong was with a blanket statement on the Horns Down gesture. It looks as if the SEC is going to take a more critically thought-out approach to its application of the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Because in the SEC “it just means more.”

In a conference that houses some of the best rivalries in college football, it’s only right that it has a better perspective on Horns Down.

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WATCH: Nick Saban goes off on players for using ‘horns down’ gesture

Nick Saban was NOT happy with a few players doing the ‘horns down’

Fans of the Crimson Tide will greet each other with a friendly “roll tide,” while Longhorns fans say “horns up” and do the accompanying hand gesture.

Football fans who aren’t too fond of Texas will respond with “horns down” and flip the hand gesture.

When the fourth quarter finally came to an end and Alabama officially defeated Texas, some Crimson Tide players were on the field throwing the horns down.

Saban was not too fond of this and a camera and mic caught him shouting at players to cut it out. However, the words he used were a bit different.

In the Big 12, players that do it on the field can be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

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