Players will tell you college athletics is all about emotion - no big paychecks, no multi-year contracts and no endorsements to play for. Few players have true hopes of playing professionally after graduation.

Fans of professional athletics will remember elaborate celebrations involving props such as sharpies, cell phones and pom-poms. Generally, celebrations on campuses are more muted than their professional counterparts.

"Nothing too out of this world," wide receiver Austin Collie said, describing his post-touchdown routine. "Just flip the ball to the ref, put the ball down or whatever."

Collie has connected with quarterback Max Hall seven times on his way to the end zone this season. The junior from El Dorado Hills, Calif., figures to have many more chances as the season progresses but says he doesn't have any extravagant celebrations planned.

BYU and Washington fans will no doubt remember a not-so-extravagant celebration in the final seconds of the Sept. 6 game between the two teams.

Washington quarterback Jake Locker scrambled in from three yards out with two seconds remaining to pull the Huskies within one. The team needed only a PAT to send the game into overtime and prolong their upset hopes.

After falling across the goal line, Locker stood up and threw the ball over his shoulder in jubilation, which violated a new rule the NCAA put in place before the season.

"To be totally honest, I didn't even realize I had done it at the time," Locker told ESPN.com the Monday after the game. "I got to the sideline and heard the official say there was an unsportsmanlike penalty and I was like, 'Who was that on? [They] must have done something stupid.' Then he said it was on No. 10, and I was like, 'Gosh, what did I do?'"

Players will be penalized for "throwing the ball high into the air" according to the rule.

The subsequent unsportsmanlike penalty resulted in 15 yards being added to the PAT, which BYU's Jan Jorgensen blocked to seal the Cougar victory.

"I just was excited," Locker said after the game. "I like to play the game with emotion and it got the best of me."

The decision by referees to call the penalty has been highly disputed since the game.

"Sometimes young men in the heat of the moment get overexuberant," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said of the Locker play. "The rules are in place to try to keep the game intact and hold on to what is most important in the game, and that's the team element."

BYU players will tell you that celebrations are not consistent with the philosophies of Mendenhall.

"If we were to celebrate, there'd be consequences," Collie said. "It's just not how we do things here. There's no need to celebrate [when] we score; it's an everyday occurrence."

For players who handle the ball as often as Collie, it can be an everyday occurrence, but not for players who rarely come in contact with the pigskin.

"I wouldn't even know what to do," senior offensive lineman David Oswald said. "I'd probably just turn around and head-butt everybody else on the offense."

Fans simply hope Oswald doesn't get too close to Hall if he ever finds the end zone.

Football isn't the only sport renowned for its celebrations. Soccer players are often well-known for their celebrations after scoring goals.

Senior forward and leading goal scorer Katie Larkin has occasionally included a sliding celebration following a score.

In a tie game earlier this season against Seattle, Larkin debuted her celebration.

"I scored the goal to put us up 2-1, and I was excited," she said. "It was kind of wet, but I just went for it and slid. It's not planned at all. I usually don't even think about it."

Players will tell you celebrations are spontaneous reactions to the excitement of scoring or making a big play. While hefty bank accounts and commercials don't fuel college athletes, emotion is what drives them to excel.

Copyright Brigham Young University 10 Oct 2008