On the field, the UCF Knights had one of the biggest and most surprising wins of the season this past weekend in Orlando. A series of absurd, classic college football plays in the fourth quarter led to overtime, and the eventual program-changing win for UCF.
It was shocking, both for how the game played out, and the ultimate result. There was a blocked field goal, a goalline stop, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty all in the lead up to overtime. Then we had two overtimes filled with more drama. And the obligatory field storming. Then there’s BYU, coming off a massive win over Notre Dame in Provo that rearranged the College Football Playoff picture and put the Cougars in the top 2, losing as a clear favorite.
But the other shocking part of the game came before it started.
UCF KNIGHTS PULL OFF STUNNING UPSET OVER UNDEFEATED BYU IN MIND-BOGGLING OVERTIME THRILLER
Video from inside Acrisure Bounce House showed a number of UCF fans chanting “f— the Mormons,” a reference to BYU’s religious background. There’s always room for good-natured college football fan ribbing, chanting, rivalries, and even some good old-fashioned hate. But insulting the other school’s religion is, well, a bit too far.
Some fans were removed by security, but the Big 12 Conference had a lot more to say about it in a new statement on Wednesday afternoon.
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“While the Conference recognizes the pregame protocols followed by UCF and immediate actions taken during the game, including removal of some individuals responsible for the conduct, discriminatory behavior has no place in the Big 12,” it reads.
“The Conference has issued UCF a $100,000 fine, which will be directed toward student education initiatives. In conjunction with this action, the Big 12 is implementing an updated Conference-wide policy establishing escalating consequences for discriminatory conduct at athletic events effective immediately.”
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The new punishments include an “automatic minimum $100,000 fine” for the first incident such as this, along with a “formal warning” to the institution while allowing them to “immediately address the behavior and prevent further incidents.”
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Money is bad enough, but more misbehavior in the same game will now result in a penalty. A second “confirmed incident” will now be a “competitive penalty, e.g., a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty in football or an unsportsmanlike two-shot technical foul in basketball.”
Anyone ejected for similar conduct will be “prohibited from attending all athletic events for the remainder of the academic year and are subject to applicable University fan/student conduct policies.”
That’s the right way to handle this particular situation, though, of course, it’s possible this gets overused if the conference starts cracking down on typical college student behavior and chanting. Not just when it goes too far, like it did during UCF-BYU.
The Knights’ home crowd will have an opportunity to redeem themselves on Friday night when they host Baylor, while BYU hosts Arizona State on Halloween in Provo. They likely won’t need to worry about too much misbehavior there.