DALLAS — It just wouldn't be a true media days event involving Texas if there weren't questions about the "Horns Down" sign, huh?
It was asked every year during Big 12 Media Days since its popularization, and during the first year of SEC Media Days to feature the Longhorns and Sooners, the tradition continued.
When Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was asked about it on Tuesday by former longtime Austin American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls, who now writes for the Houston Chronicle, Venables said he "had no opinion on it."
"Should be penalized? Like on the field? Is that what you're referring to? I don't really have an opinion," Venables said. "Football is a game of emotion and intensity and passion, and if they say that's going to be a penalty, then don't do it. And if they say it's, y'know, a free-for-all, then have at it. So everybody is different. Everybody celebrates different. But whatever rules that they have in place, we'll follow those.
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Whether or not "Horns Down" should be penalized is up for debate. The better question is will it?
Earlier on Tuesday, SEC Coordinator of Officials John McDaid was asked straight up whether his conference's referees will penalize teams for using the gesture in games.
Will "Horns Down" be a penalty in the SEC?
The answer? It depends.
McDaid said the context in how the "Horns Down" sign is used will be the determining factor on if it gets flagged by SEC refs.
"Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit one of three categories," McDaid told reporters Monday at SEC Media Days in Dallas. "Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game?"
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In other words, it's a matter of if the sign proves -- in the moment -- to compromise the integrity of a 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 TD or on the sideline," McDaid added. "To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct."
So, like most unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, the ultimate decision will come at the discretion of the official making the call.
Is that clear enough for you?
While Texas will open its 2024 football season with a home game against Colorado State on Auguse 31, the Longhorns' SEC debut will come against Mississippi State for a late September contest in Austin. While these waters could possibly be tested in that game with the Bulldogs, fans won't have to wait too much longer to receive a definitive example of whether SEC refs will flag the "Horns Down" gesture.
The annual Red River Rivalry matchup between Texas and their hated Oklahoma rivals will take place at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday, October 12.
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