SALT LAKE CITY — Brigham Young’s fourth-down play failed, Utah’s celebration began and it appeared another undefeated team had fallen on a wild Saturday across college football.
Then came the yellow flag. Defensive holding on the Utes. First down for the Cougars.
And at that moment, you knew the finish would be worthy of holy lore.
It was that — and so much more.
Given a second chance, quarterback Jake Retzlaff led the Cougars on a 65-yard drive that set up the game-winning field goal by Will Ferrin with three seconds remaining.
Minutes after the Utes seemingly had clinched a two-point victory, the Cougars celebrated a 22-21 escape before the largest crowd in Rice-Eccles Stadium history.
Most of the 54,383 left the venue in stunned silence as Brigham Young pushed its record to 9-0 and remained on pace for a berth in the Big 12 championship game.
Utah athletic director Mark Harlan did not stay silent, however. He walked into the postgame news conference and lambasted the Big 12 officials.
“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight, I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. I’m very disappointed. I will talk to the commissioner.”
He did not state directly that the officials were trying to protect Brigham Young’s undefeated record.
“This was not fair to our team,” he added. “I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”
(Referee Kevin Mar used to work in the Pac-12 and is well-regarded.)
The Utes were clearly frustrated with what they viewed as a late timeout given to Brigham Young just before the controversial fourth-down play. But Harlan’s anger was almost certainly directed at the holding penalty on cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn, who was defending receiver Keelan Marion near the left sideline.
The call came as Retzlaff was sacked at Brigham Young’s 1 yardline on fourth down with 1:29 remaining.
The Cougars were out of downs and out of timeouts. The game was over. The Utes rejoiced — until they didn’t.
The penalty gave Brigham Young a first down and extended the drive. Eight plays later, Ferrin drilled his game-winning, 44-yard field goal.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, whose team led 21-10 at halftime and did not score in the second half, was not as direct in his criticism of the officials.
“Tough way to lose a game,” he said. “Unfortunate way to lose a game … Game was over, and then it wasn’t.”
Asked about the controversial finish, Whittingham said: “It’s a ridiculous situation but I’m not going to get into it … Things out there were ridiculous.”
While watching a replay of the sequence, ESPN analyst Brock Osweiler noted that Vaughn “grabbed some jersey very early in the down” and that the penalty “was a really good call by the officials.”
Although different in details, the finish was reminiscent of the Cougars’ great escape against Oklahoma State three weeks ago, when they scored the winning touchdown with 10 seconds remaining.
Their surprising success — the Cougars were picked 13th in the Big 12 preseason poll …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
