Referee Makes Moment All About Himself, Flags NDSU QB For World's Lamest Excessive Celebration Penalty
There is nothing worse than when a referee decides to take the game into his or her own hands, like what happened during NDSU's game on Saturday. North Dakota State Bison quarterback Cam Miller was flagged for excessive celebration and it was extremely lame.
NDSU, which entered the game as the top-ranked team in the FCS division, hosted cross-state rivals South Dakota State, the No. 2-ranked team in the country. The 113th edition of the Dakota Marker rivalry was an absolute dogfight from start to finish.
The Bison jumped out to a 21-7 lead at halftime, but the Jackrabbits kept them in their sights and fought back with 16 unanswered points in the second half to leave Fargo victorious.
Before the game went to the break after the second quarter, the momentum was entirely in favor of the home team. North Dakota State was rolling.
That all changed with just under five minutes left.
An absurd excessive celebration call was the turning point for North Dakota State
Miller, who took over for Trey Lance last year, threw a beautiful pass to the outside that went for a first down and set the Bison up with 1st-and-goal from just inside the five. It was a perfect throw.
However, the field position was diminished because of a penalty. After completing the bomb, Miller looked over to the SDSU sideline and let them know what just happened.
His celebration was not egregious. It was a little bit cocky, but the moment warranted his reaction.
The only problem was that Miller did his celebration right in front of an official, who decided that he wanted the spotlight on him. In response to the taunting, the referee threw his flag.
Miller looked back in shock, and the referee shook his head with a big smile on his face.
There is no denying that Miller's celebration toed the line. Especially during a rivalry game, where tensions are even higher than normal.
But really? THAT is where the official decided to draw the line?
And to make matters worse, the call backed NDSU up and they did not score on the drive. Where if the penalty was not called, the Bison would have had four chances to punch it in from the four-yard-line.
Boo.