All the annoying things college football players need to stop doing

Ahmaad Harris caught Clemson’s kickoff in the end zone. Nonchalantly chucking the ball to the ref, Harris had forgotten one key thing. He did not take a knee. Clemson recovered the ball and scored the easiest touchdown they’ll get all year.

Harris was not the only player to do something infuriatingly stupid this weekend. Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon dropped the ball before the end zone against Ohio State. Although the referees didn’t see it, what a monumentally moronic thing to do. It must be so frustrating for coaches who spend hours developing plays only to have their players let them down.

Being a college football fan is stressful at the best of times and sometimes the players really don’t help…

Getting injured while celebrating 

You get injured while trying to make a first down, fair.

You get injured while dancing, chest bumping and excessively dabbing, you’re a moron.

Ted Ginn Jr. made one of the great plays in a National Championship in 2007 and then undid all of his good work by getting injured in the ensuing celebration.

Missing an extra point as a kicker

Your offense works hard. You have a huge drive. You score a TD. You miss the kick.

OK we get that you have pressure as a kicker, missing a long field goal is understandable at times. Sometimes all eyes are on you, I can’t even begin to imagine how Cam Pedersen was feeling before his kick in the last minute against Iowa.

But come on, missing the extra point after a TD is unacceptable. This is your bread and butter, literally your one job. You must spend hours doing it on a training ground, there’s really no excuse.

Dropping the ball before the end zone

For some reason the biggest trend right now in college football. It makes no sense why it’s happening so much now, it’s happened four times in the opening three weeks. Mixon’s drop against Ohio State wasn’t spotted and Oklahoma got away with it. Dalvin Cook, Ray-Ray McCloud and Vic Enwere have all committed the cardinal sin. To be fair to Cook, his is slightly more forgivable because his drop was an accident.

Seriously though, it’s so stupid and there’s literally no excuse for doing it. It’s not like carrying the ball is that much of an inconvenience. Just hold it until you are sure you are in the end zone.

WHY DOES IT KEEP HAPPENING?

Defenders who wildly celebrate a tackle despite the offense gaining yards

Celebrating a big sack is understandable. But when the teams gains yards and you make a pretty standard tackle please keep your celebrations to a minimum. There is no reason to celebrate when the offense is about to score against you. Save it for when you actually stop them.

Stupid penalties from a lineman

Off sides, false start, holding. It’s infuriating to watch as a fan, I can’t even begin to imagine how annoying it is for the coaches. You lose valuable yards and it’s so preventable. Yes, linemen have the most thankless job in sports, but maybe people wouldn’t hate them as much if they didn’t make dumb penalties.

Excessive celebration

This one also falls under the larger category of stupid and unnecessary personal fouls. We get it, you scored and you’re happy. But excessive celebration is so easy to avoid. Nothing is worse than giving your opponent better field position because a player on your team couldn’t contain themselves.

To be fair, imagine if these soccer players played football, they’d get banned for life.

General acts of petulance

We know this is a physical game and sometimes you really want to react to a big hit. But for the sake of the game and team, please don’t. You will get ejected.

A particular stand out moment came in the USC-Alabama game on opening weekend. Well done Jabari Ruffin for proving you are a massive dick by stomping on someone’s dick.

Not being smart enough

“Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS,” once said Cardale Jones. Obviously things worked out for him in the end but blowing off school is something that should not be taken lightly.

“In Division I, student-athletes must complete 40 percent of the coursework required for a degree by the end of their second year. They must complete 60 percent by the end of their third year and 80 percent by the end of their fourth year. Student-athletes are allowed five years to graduate while receiving athletically related financial aid.” according to the NCAA website.

Essentially this means just put in some type of effort in the classroom. No one is asking these football players to dual major in chemistry and astrophysics (not saying they can’t). Nothing is more frustrating when a player is declared academically ineligible. It is infuriating as a fan to see them miss the game and infuriating as a student to see someone wasting their opportunity for a higher education.

Targeting

Lets be honest no one even likes this rule. It is hard to blame the defender in these situations because football is a violent sport by nature, there is nothing safe about it so sugarcoating it probably won’t make a difference. Obviously one would want their player to not aim with his head, but a better solution would be for the refs to stop calling these types of penalties altogether.

We accept mistakes happen: fumbles, drops, bad snaps, it’s all part of playing football. We are just asking you to use your brain a little bit. I can accept a quarterback throwing an interception, I can’t accept you dropping the ball for no reason before the end zone.