Worst Celebration Penalty Ever May Have Cost Maryland The Game Yesterday

We've often heard that football is a game of inches, but it's just as much a game of momentum as well.

When you look back on the totality of any football game at the end of the day, you can point to maybe half a dozen plays that defined the outcome.

The Maryland Terrapins found this out the hard way in their heartbreaking loss to Washington yesterday.

Up 20-3 in the fourth quarter, Terps' DB Dontay Joyner thought he locked down the Huskies receiver for a pass breakup in the endzone.

As most defensive backs worth their salt are wont to do, Joyner busted out the patented "seatbelt" celebration in pure jubilation.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

The Huskies were gifted a new set of downs and were able to punch one in later in the drive.

The Terrapins would go on to have a full-blown meltdown, dropping their first game of the season and spoiling an otherwise torrid start to 2025.

I can't see any reason why the ref would throw a flag for taunting in that situation, as the seatbelt celebration is one of the most benign rituals in the defensive back book.

The official explanation from the referee for this penalty might be even more egregious than the flag itself, though.

Brandishing a weapon? Good God, that is soft!

We really need to make a change to these taunting penalties.

The NCAA is still pretending these are a bunch of amateur kids and will preach things like "sportsmanship," while the average Power 4 wide receiver is driving around in an Aston Martin convertible.

Let these guys celebrate (within reason) and stop trying to police the players like this is Pop Warner football.

I've seen far too many games get decided by guys in stripes, and this is just another example of the refs influencing the outcome of a game in ways that have nothing to do with the play on the field.

To be clear, Maryland can't pin this loss entirely on the officiating nor can they trace it back to this play in particular.

But this penalty in particular did leave the door cracked just enough for Washington to sneak back in and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Cut the crap, eliminate celebration and taunting penalties, and let's get back to letting 18-23 year-olds (and not the refs) dictate our moods for the next three months.