Why?

With about 1:30 to play in their Week 3 game against Texas, Cal held a 50-43 lead. It was a defensive battle. Cal had a 3rd-and-1 near midfield. With no timeouts, Texas needed a stop. They needed a stop so badly that all 11 defenders crowded the line of scrimmage. As soon as, Cal back Vic Enwere pierced the line he had no Longhorn defender between him and the goal line. He was running free. The only question that remained was whether Enwere might take a knee before that goal line and not even give the Texas offense a shot at a miracle. Instead, he threw out another, less shrewd option. An option that was irretrievably stupid and mind-numbingly selfish. Enwere showboated and casually dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line. The stunt was easy to miss while watching it live. Something didn't look right, didn't feel right about the way he crossed that goal line. The main problem was that the ball was on the ground and not in his possession. On replay, it was obvious that Vic Enwere dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line. He put his need to look cool before the security of a big win over a nationally ranked opponent. He pulled a DeSean Jackson.

Why?

It's an absolute mystery as to why a football player would consider dropping the football upon crossing the goal line a reasonable thing to do. Possession of the football is perhaps the most important objective of the sport. It's so important that every coach would prefer to see their players carry the football home with them than ever give it up anywhere in the field of play. Even in the end zone. This stunt isn't cool. It's incredibly stupid and Enwere's gaffe was the second of Week 3. It shouldn't ever happen and it occurred twice on a single day. Oklahoma's Joe Mixon did the very same thing at the end of his kick return against Ohio State. Mixon got to keep his touchdown. The officials missed it. They must not have even reviewed it because there was no doubt that Mixon never carried the ball with him across that goal line. Why? Enwere had his touchdown taken away. The officials replayed it, saw the obvious, and made an interesting ruling. A Texas player eventually picked up the ball and handed it to the official. The ruling that came down was that Cal retained possession of the ball because there was no immediate recovery. Cal got the ball at the one-yard line because that was where it was last possessed. Interesting. It worked out great for Cal. Perhaps better than a touchdown because Texas never had possession of the ball again. Possession! So important! 

Why is this stupidity being done so often? 

DeSean Jackson is routinely credited with making it a thing, a very stupid thing, when he celebrated prematurely on Monday Night Football Football as a rookie with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008. What is it with Cal players doing this nonsense? They are supposed to be smarter than that. Supposed to be. The only thing that is certain about this stupidity is that it has to stop. Perhaps it will soon because these players are getting bashed and they will be carrying this "stupid" tag for as long they carry a football. We can all hope that they will carry the football a little longer than they used to carry it.