SEC coordinator of officials addresses 'Horns down' gesture, penalty worthiness

The SEC has released a statement from its coordinator of officials on whether teams will be penalized for throwing the ‘Horns down’ gesture during football games against Texas once the league expands in 2024.

In short, it will depend on how it is done. But it won’t be a blanket penalty.

“Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit 1 of 3 categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game?” SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid said, according to a report from Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

How those three questions get answered will determine whether a given celebration is ruled on.

But the Southeastern Conference appears to be erring on the side of caution when it comes to penalizing for gestures like Horns down, the Gator chomp or Ole Miss‘ Landshark symbol.

“There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it w/teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline,” McDaid said. “To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”

NCAA targeting game length with rule changes

In addition to the SEC’s new wording around the ‘Horns down’ gesture, the NCAA instituted a handful of changes to college football intended to target the length of games.

One such rule is that the clock will no longer stop on first downs outside of the final two minutes of each half. The rule is designed to keep games rolling, cutting down on the increasing length of time games have taken to finish in recent years.

Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger outlined some of the proposed NCAA rule changes earlier this spring:

“High-ranking college football leaders have been reviewing four specific changes to clock rules. Two of which are considered non-controversial, one that has garnered wide support and a fourth that has left some divided.”

“The non-controversial proposals include (1) prohibiting consecutive timeouts (ie, icing kickers) and (2) no longer extending a first or third quarter for an untimed down if the quarter ends on a defensive penalty (the down would be clocked starting the next quarter).

“In a third proposal that is garnering wide support, the clock will continue to run after an offense gains a first down except inside of two minutes in a half. In a more controversial fourth proposal, the clock will run after an incomplete pass once the ball is spotted”