Something worth mentioning and keeping in mind:
Taunting of Scoring Plays Might Wipe Out Touchdowns
The NCAA rules committee is considering disallowing a touchdown if a player is flagged for taunting during a scoring play.
Citing an increasing concern over unsportsmanlike conduct, rules committee chairman Mike Bellotti said Wednesday that his group is considering “a major change” to the taunting rules.
Currently, “taunting, baiting or ridiculing an opponent verbally” is considered a dead-ball foul. Penalty yardage is assessed on the next kickoff. If the rule is changed, penalty yardage would be marked off from the spot of the foul and the touchdown would be nullified.
Simply explained: Think of an offensive player, headed toward the end zone, turning to show a defender the ball in a taunting manner before he crosses the goal line. That play would be considered a live-ball foul.
“It would be treated like a clip, for example,” said Rogers Redding, NCAA secretary-rules editor.
That would make the NCAA’s already-silly rules even worse and leave game-changing penalties in the subjective opinoin of referees. These are young men we are talking about here, and scoring a touchdown, especially in critical game situations, is a big deal to them — and one where emotions might get the better of them.
Imagine a scenario where a team scores a last-second TD and wins the game, with players collapsing in a pile of joyous celebration. “Not so fast,” the referee thinks, and tosses out a flag that calls the TD back and turns a victory into a loss. The catch John Dunlap made against BC a few years ago in Carter-Finley comes to mind. There certainly was a lot of rambunctious celebration afterward. If an ACC referee decided that State’s players had been giving BC “the business” then that win turns into a loss.
Good thing that Tom O’Brien demands discipline from his players. This new rule could really hurt a looser bunch. 2010 Daytona 500
