How Oklahoma can get around 'Horns Down' penalty vs. Texas

Jordan Heck

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How Oklahoma can get around 'Horns Down' penalty vs. Texas image

Saturday’s Big 12 championship game between long time rivals Oklahoma and Texas will likely be missing one of its greatest traditions: Horns Down.

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said during his Tuesday radio show he heard back from the Big 12 Conference that Horns Down won't be tolerated, saying, "Yeah, we can't do it,” when asked if his players will be perform the gesture.

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This has been a source of controversy ever since Texas played West Virginia and Mountaineers WR David Sills performed the gesture and was penalized 15 yards for doing so. Quarterback Will Grier also did it on his game-winning 2-point conversion vs. Texas, and Longhorns coach Tom Herman had some thoughts on it after the game. 

“I thought taunting before you cross the goal line negated a score,” Herman said. “I’ve got to brush up on my rules and get some questions answered.”

It should be noted Riley never specifically said his players would be penalized, but it seems like a logical conclusion from his comments and the precedent set by WVU. So what do Oklahoma players do? Surely they'll want to make fun of Texas in this game, so they’ll need to get creative in doing so. Here are some ideas on how to get around this new Horns Down rule.

1. Do Horns Sideways

This is still making fun of Texas’ tradition of its Hook ‘Em Horns gesture while not fully going the 180 degrees. Instead, the Horns can go about 90 degrees, or somewhere between 90 and 180 if the Sooners really want to test their limits.

Instead of the famous “Key & Peele” rule of two pumps, it’d be figuring out how many degrees a player can go before it's deemed illegal. Refs can bring out a protractor to determine the legality of the celebration.

2. Do an inverse Horns Down

The traditional way to do Horns Down is to have the good ol' fashioned Hook 'Em Horns gesture, and then just drop your wrist so the horns go, well, down. But what if there was another way to get the message across? I bring to you: Inverse Horns Down.

In this hand gesture, you'll instead put your hand out like Spiderman shooting a web. It has all the characteristics of Horns Down — thumb out, middle fingers in, index and pinky fingers acting as the horns — but without technically being Horns Down. Just hold this position downwards and boom ... you have Inverse Horns Down.

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3. Have teammates hold you upside down

Get some of your teammates to hold you upside down while you do the horns gesture. Technically you’d be doing a Hook ‘Em Horns celebration, but visually you’d be doing Horns Down, and at the end of the day this whole thing is about aesthetics.

We think this should be legal, but it might be worth another phone call from Riley to the Big 12 just to make sure.

4. Do Horns Down in your pocket

The officials can't penalize what they can't see, right? 

Put your hands in your hand warmer, your pocket or under your jersey and just do the Horns Down gesture there. It's not ideal since the crowd won't see it, but we all know what the intention is. It's a great way to disrespect your opponent while not being a criminal in the eyes of the Big 12 refs.

5. Just go ahead and take the penalty

I have no doubt in my mind if this game gets to be a blowout, Oklahoma players will just accept the penalty and do Horns Down. Even if it's not a blowout, I can see a few scenarios where it makes sense to go ahead and take the penalty. If there's a go-ahead score late in the game, a last-second score or just a huge play that can clinch the win — just go for it.

Jordan Heck

Jordan Heck Photo

Jordan Heck is a Social Media Producer at Sporting News. Before working here, he was a Digital Content Producer at The Indianapolis Star. He graduated with a degree from Indiana University.