BYU is still undefeated. Somehow.
The No. 9 Cougars took advantage of a fourth-down holding penalty to stun Utah 22-21 late Saturday night. The Utes had led for the entirety of the second half and seemed to have the game wrapped up when QB Jake Retzlaff threw three incompletions and was sacked just in front of his goal line with 90 seconds to go.
But before Retzlaff went down in the pocket, Utah’s Zemaiah Vaughn was flagged for a hold on the play. The 10-yard penalty gave BYU an automatic first down.
Here’s a look at the penalty in question:
Two plays later, Retzlaff found Chase Roberts for a 30-yard gain to midfield with 1:13 to go. Seven plays after that, Will Ferrin kicked a go-ahead 44-yard field goal with three seconds to go.
After the game, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan wasted no time calling out the officials, saying, “This game was absolutely stolen from us. We were excited about being in the Big 12 but tonight I am not. We won this game; someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed. I will talk to the [Big 12] commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”
The improbable comeback came after the BYU offense was out of sync all night. The Cougars used two of their second-half timeouts at the start of the third quarter to sort out offensive issues and looked rattled at times by the extremely loud crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Saturday night’s game was the first between the schools with both as Big 12 members.
Brandon Rose started at QB for the Utes for the first time this season after freshman Isaac Wilson had been starting in place of the injured Cameron Rising. Rose threw TDs to Brant Kuithe and Micah Bernard in that second quarter and finished the game 12-of-21 passing for 112 yards and an interception.
Utah’s defense was the main reason the Utes almost pulled the upset. Retzlaff was sacked three times and had multiple passes tipped at the line of scrimmage. But the Utes couldn’t get that one last stop they really needed after the offense sputtered in the second half.
Utah led 21-10 at halftime thanks to three TDs in the second quarter but the offense was miserable in the final 30 minutes. Utah ran just 25 plays over the third and fourth quarters and five of the Utes’ six possessions lasted four plays or less.
BYU, meanwhile, is one of just three undefeated power conference teams remaining along with Oregon and Indiana. Army is the only team outside the power four conferences without a loss.
And the win means the Cougars are another step closer to the Big 12 title game and could have a spot in the championship game wrapped up with two more wins. The Cougars are 6-0 in the conference and a game ahead of Colorado in second and four teams in third. Wins over Kansas and Arizona State — one of the teams tied for third — would allow the Cougars to clinch a berth in the title game before the final week of the season.