Arizona State has been fined for the chaotic end to its win over BYU on Saturday.
The Big 12 said Tuesday that it was fining the school $25,000 and issuing a public reprimand for the field storm near the end of the 28-23 victory. Arizona State fans swarmed the field thinking the game was over, however there was officially still one second to go when they rushed the field.
The Sun Devils haphazardly tried to end the game by running out the clock instead of scoring a touchdown for a two-score lead with less than a minute left. On fourth down, QB Sam Leavitt heaved the ball out of bounds in an attempt to end the game. But the ball landed in the stands with one second remaining.
The clock struck zero right after Leavitt’s pass landed, so fans believed the game was over. The game was delayed for over 10 minutes as officials reviewed the play to see if time still remained on the clock when the pass landed.
It was a wild scene as the replay review took place with fans crowding around officials and an irate Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham watching over the officials’ shoulder.
“In accordance with the Big 12 Conference Principles and Standards of Sportsmanship, the Conference has issued a public reprimand and a $25,000 fine of Arizona State University for the field storming incident that occurred during Saturday’s football game against BYU,” a statement from the conference said.
“The safety of student athletes and all game participants is our foremost priority,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said in the statement. “We will continue to work with our institutions on event management policies at all Big 12 venues.”
After the replay review, BYU had a chance to throw a Hail Mary for the win. However, Jake Retzlaff’s pass to Chase Roberts was short of the end zone.
The Big 12’s fine for Arizona State is a quarter of the fine that the SEC levies on its teams when fans storm the field for the first time. Auburn and Oklahoma were each fined $100,000 for their fans’ field storms in Week 13. Oklahoma was fined twice because, like Arizona State’s fans, their fans stormed the field too early and caused the game to be delayed before the final play could be run.
The win means Arizona State is in a four-way tie for first in the Big 12 heading into the last week of the regular season. However, the Sun Devils have the best tiebreaker chances of anyone in that tie. ASU is in the Big 12 championship game if it beats Arizona on Saturday no matter what anyone else does.