2010 Pinstripe Bowl Injustice: Chuck's Extra Points

The college bowl season is in full swing with most games already in the books and a full slate scheduled for New Years Day. There have already been some interesting events both on and off the field worth commenting on, none more so than the end of the Kansas State vs. Syracuse game.

If ever a rule needs to be reviewed and more clearly defined, it's the "excessive celebration" call in college football.  By now, you either watched the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl in New York between Kansas State and Syracuse or you've read about what happened with the game on the line. If you've been living under a rock somewhere the past week, allow me to describe what happened.

With just over a minute to play in regulation, wide receiver Adrian Hilburn caught a pass along the sideline and sprinted into the end zone to cut the Syracuse lead to two.  After scoring, Hilburn dropped the ball and delivered a military salute in the end zone, prompting the Big Ten officials to flag him for excessive celebration. Kansas State needed to go for two to tie the game and send it into overtime, but as a result of the flag the penalty was enforced on the two point try, sending Kansas State back to the 17 yard line instead of the two.  Needless to say, they didn't convert, securing a win for the Orange.

The rule states no player shall celebrate in a manner that calls attention to himself.  That wording is too vague and open to interpretation. I believe most people upon viewing what occurred would not agree with the Big Ten crew that this was in any way "excessive."  It was a horrible call made with the game on the line.

The only person who called attention to himself was the official who threw the flag.  

Flips into the end zone, crazy individual dances, taunting and the like are all things I believe the rules committee had in mind when they established that rule, and certainly those things have no place in college football, but a simple salute in New York City in the end zone in no way falls into this category.

This rule needs to be re-written and more specific to the behavior to prevent future incidents like this. Kansas State lost this game to the officials as much as they did to Syracuse.