Steve Sarkisian and Horns make sure to hold Colin Simmons accountable for crude celebration

Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons had the game of a lifetime, quite literally, with five sacks (tying the Longhorns' single-game program record) and eight total tackles against the Tennessee Volunteers.

However, his incredible performance had an asterisk tied to it, with the defensive leader getting called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first half after sacking Tennessee quarterback Faizon Brandon and celebrating by pretending to "use the restroom."

The Horns' fans and haters alike reacted violently to the celebration, noting that it was unacceptable for anyone to make that kind of move, much less one of your veterans or stars. After the game, head coach Steve Sarkisian made sure to address the incident, sharing that he had held Simmons accountable, and quite a few of the edge rusher's teammates shared the same sentiment.

"We took him out, we addressed it, and put him back in," Sarkisian said about the penalty after the game. "I'm not going to give the guy the death penalty over an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. We've gotta fix it, though. That can't continue as we move forward."

Many people called for Simmons to be pulled from the game, and while he sat out for the following play, Sarkisian didn't keep him off the field for long. That's the only way he was able to earn that career-high in sacks.

Colin Simmons apologizes for indecent celebration

"I do want to say I apologize for the celebration. I was definitely in that mode, feeling myself, but ya know, it happens," Simmons said.

The third-year edge rusher shared that he was obviously spoken to about the celebration on the sidelines afterward, but that it was still a "next play mentality" despite the penalty. While the play was undeniably a big one for Simmons and the environment was new for Texas, those are things that the Horns had prepared for all week.

"Can’t happen. That’s a bad football play. We had harped, talked about this game about not getting emotional with the crowd. That was an emotional play," Sarkisian said.

His teammates, like senior defensive lineman Justin Cryer, harped on the fact that those types of plays can't be tolerated on their team, but they continued to back their guy, especially after his monumental performance.

"After the game I told him, look, man, we have to keep our head… We don’t want those penalties to define how the game is going to go," Cryer said. "He knows better. He shouldn’t have done that. But you get five sacks in a game, you can do whatever you want."

And, yes, the five sacks definitely softened the blow that the celebration initially caused, and took people's minds off the mistake and turned their attention to just how good Simmons is.

However, as SEC play continues for the Longhorns, they can't afford to give up as many penalties as they did against Tennessee, especially ones that are as preventable as a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct on a ridiculous celebration.

"We gotta get to 'It's about the team' and focus on the team, and not so much, 'Look at me,'" Sarkisian said about how to fix this kind of mistake.

Texas has a bye in Week 5, but with the Red River Rivalry coming in Week 6, the emotions will undoubtedly be at an all-time high once again. The Horns have to make sure they can keep them in check.

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