Should Oregon Have Gotten an "Excessive Celebration" Penalty For This?

Oregon linebacker Tony Washington sacked Arizona QB Anu Solomon on 3rd and goal midway through the 4th quarter of a tie game, and the Ducks’ crowd went wild. It appeared Arizona would be facing a 4th and goal from the 17-yard line, and thus be forced to kick a field goal. But the sack was negated by a questionable excessive celebration penalty for the above bow.

Arizona scored a touchdown a few plays later and held on 31-24 for the upset, shaking up the College Football playoff picture.

This was an obvious call, by the book. Rule 9-2-1h explicitly prohibits “bowing at the waist after a good play.” Though, one could argue there is a reason we still have humans on the field making these calls: common sense. Not every technical foul in the box is called for a penalty in soccer. Tie basketball games aren’t decided on incidental off-the-ball fouls. No one wants a football game decided on a victimless celebration penalty.

Football should take a cue from soccer, make the rule vaguer and offer referees more discretion. Celebration is natural. Humans don’t need eight bullet points to distinguish between what is harmless and what is taunting an opponent.