Justin Cryer saw the trouble coming and sprinted toward his teammate. The Texas linebacker arrived a moment too late.
Colin Simmons had just burst into Tennessee’s backfield on third down and dragged down Volunteers quarterback Faizon Brandon.
The sack set up what should have been a fourth-and-29. Then the Longhorns pass rusher stood over Brandon and pretended to urinate on the field. A yellow flag hit the turf almost immediately.
“I tried to run over there and grab him,” Cryer said. “I seen where it was going, and I tried to go grab him before we got a penalty, but it was too late.”
The referee announced the unsportsmanlike conduct call over the stadium microphone, citing “simulating using the restroom.”
The ABC broadcast crew did not hold back. Kirk Herbstreit labeled the gesture an “absolutely idiotic move.” Fowler agreed and added: “It doesn’t get much more vulgar, either.”
President Donald Trump had a seat for it all at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Air Force One had flown over the venue earlier, and the crowd greeted it with roaring cheers.
When the jumbotron found the president in his luxury suite, he wore a dark suit and a red tie. He smiled and pumped his fist several times as the ovation rolled over him.
Sitting beside him was Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, a close political ally, dressed in bright Volunteer orange.
The president watched an SEC clash between two of the nation’s top teams, and Texas walked away with a 20-17 win. The victory pushed the Longhorns to 4-0.
Simmons, a 20-year-old junior, piled up five sacks against Brandon in the game.
Reporters caught up with him afterward, and he owned the moment.
“I also do want to say I apologize for the celebration,” he said. “I was definitely in that mode, feeling myself. But, you know, it happens. Charge it to the game.”
He carried the apology onto social media. “All Glory To God,” he wrote on X. “Thank you for listening to my prayers and forgive me for my actions.”
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian pulled no punches when asked about the play, though he stopped short of a harsh verdict. He said he was “not going to give the guy the death penalty” over the flag.
“Can’t happen. That’s a bad football play,” Sarkisian said. “We had harped and talked about this game about not getting emotional with the crowd and that was an emotional play.
“A couple others that were close too. We had a real talk about it at halftime about how we needed to play in the second half, we needed to celebrate with one another.
“We took him out, we addressed it, and put him back in,” Sarkisian continued. “I mean, at that point, I’m not going to give the guy the death penalty over an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, we got to fix it though.
“That can’t continue as we move forward. As I touched on with the team in the locker room, we’ll address that on Monday and what that looks like and how to control our emotions in the best way.
“I know guys are excited when they’re making plays. The best thing you can do is go celebrate with a teammate…. It’s about the team and focus on the team, and not so much look at me.
“And so we’ll try to improve upon that. But five sacks was pretty cool today, too.”
Cryer described how he handled the aftermath with Simmons on the field.
“After the play, I just told him, ‘Look, man, we got to just keep our head.’ I know he’s having fun, he’s excited, but at the end of the day, we don’t want to let those plays, those penalties, dictate how the game’s going to go.”
The penalty never cost Texas on the scoreboard. Simmons left Neyland Stadium with a win, five sacks and relief that the flag did not change the outcome.
