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He clearly started to signal TD but changed that to stopping the clock very quickly. I just finished a TIVO frame by frame review:
Ball was snapped at 2. H is standing at the 2 and Box Man is behind him. Not sure what the PAC-10 mechanics are but H did not go to GL at snap, he stayed in place (although in this play I am not sure that mattered as there is no question ball did not cross the plane of GL). As QB rolled his way, H started to the GL. A ND defender, coming from inside out, knocked the ball loose as ball as at the 1 and QB was starting to dive. Ball went almost directly sideways (which would be in keeping with the laws of physics) and went out of bounds hitting the band members. You can see the ball clearly passing between the box man and the H. The Box Man never moved upfield so he was still on the 2 when ball passed in front of him. The correct spot would have to be someplace between the GL and the 2. It was spotted at the 1 for the next play (which ended up being the TD play).
As for the "deer in the headlights" I suspect 99.9% of us would have looked that way. It was a huge game, he was surrounded by people, the play was right in his lap and he could not have moved much even if he had wanted to. To his credit, his mind obviously kicked in and he realized he had something strange here so he was processing it. That may account for some of that "deer in the headlights". Bottom line, he got it right as far as I can tell although there was room for improvement mechanically, i.e. get to GL at snap, get a bean bag out to sell the fumble, move to spot where you think ball crossed sideline instead of holding the spot of fumble spot.
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