Stanford Cardinal defensive lineman Clay Patterson earned a taunting penalty for a dumb celebration dance which wiped out his quarterback sack during Saturday night's college football season opener in Hawaii.
It happened with 1:32 remaining in the second quarter with Stanford leading 13-7. Hawaii had the ball with 1st and 10 on the Stanford 24-yard line. The Rainbows tried to run a flea flicker, but Patterson beat the linemen blocking him so when the ball was tossed back to QB Micah Alejado, Patterson was there to take him down for a 12-yard loss.
Patterson was congratulated by teammates, but then decided to break out a silly TikTok-style celebration dance. He certainly drew attention to himself, but probably not what he was looking for, as the officials flagged him for taunting.
"Clay Patterson has been in college 7 years. You can't fool him. But then he does the foolish TikTok dance..."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 24, 2025
"It was a disaster play for Hawaii and a disaster dance for Stanford."
Logan Ryan and Rich Walz discuss Clay Patterson's unsportsmanlike conduct (dancing) penalty. pic.twitter.com/wrfMBcDD7U
As luck would have it, Hawaii would score a touchdown two plays later to take a 14-13 lead. If Patterson hadn't been so eager for attention, Stanford might have been able to hold Hawaii to a field goal or keep them from scoring before halftime altogether.
Patterson was a standout lineman at Yale before transferring to Stanford as a graduate student. You have to be very smart to be admitted to both of those schools, which would seem to indicate Patterson is smart enough to be better than this.
In the end, Patterson finished the game with two solo tackles for a loss and two sacks. However, Stanford lost the game 23-20 as Hawaii kicked a field goal for the win as time expired.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports).
