Sports

SEC Officials Clarify Potential Penalty For ‘Horns Down’ Gesture When Texas Joins The Conference

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A TCU fan flashes the "Horns Down" gesture.

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The Texas Longhorns will join the Southeastern Conference in 2024. Referee crews are already preparing for the new addition on the football field.

At SEC Media Days, the league coordinator of officials explained the potential penalty for opponents that flash the “Horns Down” gesture to Texas players. The college football world has been quick to react online.

The gesture has been under scrutiny over the last few seasons, with the Big XII ruling that the act will result in a penalty. That was news to Nick Saban, whose Alabama Crimson Tide faced off against the Longhorns last year.

Luckily for Coach Saban, it doesn’t look like that ruling will carry over into the SEC.

Well, sort of.

According to Brett McMurphy, the conference plans to look at things on a case-by-case basis.

John McDaid, SEC coordinator of officials, said the following about the potential 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? There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in 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.”

McDaid continued to say that the “Gator Chomp” and “Landshark” gestures would be judged in the same manner.

Fans were quick to react to the news on social media.

Most just called the Longhorns “soft.”

Others said similar punishment should be given for the “Horns Up” gesture.

The reactions were not kind to Texas.

It will be interesting to see how this is judged in 2024. It does sound like the SEC will be a bit more lenient with the rule.