Marcus Strong made a tremendous play in the first quarter of the Valero Alamo Bowl, picking off Brock Purdy and taking it all the way back for six points.
The Washington State cornerback did everything right on the play. He diagnosed the route, jumped it, made the catch and then outran everyone to the end zone. Unfortunately for him, the NCAA cannot stand anyone having any fun on big plays, and Strong was hit with a taunting penalty for looking back at his would-be pursuers (watch here).
The penalty wiped Strong’s pick-six off the board, and his coaches gave him a bit of a scolding on the sideline afterward.
One person who absolutely loved what Strong did, however, was none other than Deion Sanders, who made the look-back move so popular back in the day. He sent Strong a shout-out on Twitter after the play.
Marcus Strong u ain’t do nothing wrong my brother. The way u broke on that slant u deserve to look back after u outran everyone! #Truth WASHINGTON STATE!!!!!!!!
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) December 29, 2018
No doubt, this will make Strong’s day.
Of course, it also helps that Wazzu ended up scoring off the turnover anyway when Gardner Minshew hit Renard Bell on a 22-yard touchdown pass a few plays later.