Ranking the 10 most iconic college football traditions

2 of 10

AUSTIN, TX – NOVEMBER 03: Dante Stills #55 of the West Virginia Mountaineers celebrates with the horns down signal after the game against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

No. 9: Horns Down

One of the things that makes college football special is the rivalries between not only the teams on the field but the fanbases behind each program. Back-and-forth banter is expected, and until the 2018 season, mocking an opponent’s celebration was just more of that. Then Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns threw a temper tantrum that garnered rule changes for the upcoming season.

West Virginia quarterback Will Grier delivered a strike to Gary Jennings with 16 seconds remaining that pulled the Mountaineers within one point of the hosting Longhorns. At 41-40, Dana Holgorsen and the ‘Eers opted to go for two. Grier then scampered toward the left pylon for the go-ahead conversion and flashed Texas fans’ their iconic hand gesture, but turned it down. Wide receiver David Sills did it flawlessly earlier in the game, and the Mountaineers are far from the first players or fans to do it. But it struck a nerve in the Longhorns that day. Again.

Texas quarterback, Sam Ehlinger, took to Twitter to whine following the heartbreaking loss. “I remember every single team/player that disrespects the rich tradition of the University of Texas by putting the Horns down. Do not think it will be forgotten in the future.”

Sills was penalized for the gesture, as was Grier. And the following week, Texas was taking on Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. League officials told Sooners’ head coach Lincoln Riley when he asked about it and made it clear it’d be a penalty. Anything to appease the Longhorns.

Horns down was still a topic at Big 12 Media Days when the resulting answer cluttered the interpretation even further.

“If they do it in their bench area, we’re not going to look at it,” said Greg Burks, the Big 12 coordinator of football officials. “It would be like any other celebration foul, so it has to be like any other foul we have. Does it rise to the level we need to deal with that? It’s a hot topic.”