Stanford defender dances his way to costly penalty after stopping trick play
By Andrew Olson
Published:
It’s Week 0 of the college football season and we’ve already got a TikTok-inspired penalty.
Clay Patterson made a great play, and then made a really poor decision. Patterson’s Stanford squad was up 13-7 on Hawaii in the 2nd quarter when he sniffed out a trick play and made a stop in the backfield for a big loss. Patterson’s highlight, though, was quickly nullified by his decision to celebrate with a TikTok-inspired dance.
Patterson’s dancing earned him an unsportsmanlike conduct flag. Instead of moving the Rainbow Warriors back, they moved closer to scoring.
"Clay Patterson aura farming right now." — @RealLoganRyan
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) August 24, 2025
The Stanford DL picks up a costly penalty after stopping the trick play. pic.twitter.com/unNYGUy9A0
To state what’s painfully obvious, Patterson should be smarter than this. For anyone unfamiliar with Patterson and thinking of questioning his Stanford academic bona fides, the defensive lineman was a 2-time first-team All-Ivy selection during his football career at Yale.
Patterson’s penalty proved costly. It gave Hawaii 1st-and-10 on the Stanford 21-yard line, and the Rainbow Warriors scored a touchdown 2 plays later to go up 14-13 after the extra point. Hawaii currently has a 17-13 lead in the 3rd quarter.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
