The Holy War rivalry game between BYU and Utah late Saturday night had huge playoff implications for the undefeated Cougars. And they were able to escape with a last second victory to remain in first place in the Big XII… although not without some controversy.
BYU trailed 21-10 at halftime to Utah and it looked like for much of the game that the Utes would get the best of their Beehive State rivals. And with the game winding down in the fourth quarter, it appeared that Utah would get the victory after stopping BYU on fourth down deep in their own territory. However, a defensive holding penalty kept the drive going and a field goal from Will Ferrin gave BYU a dramatic 22-21 victory.
After the game, Utah AD Mark Harlan was none too pleased about the penalty and the result. In fact, he may have gone juuuuuust a little overboard for someone in his position.
Taking the mic in the postgame presser, Harlan lit into his new conference and its officiating.
“This game was absolutely stolen from us. We were excited about being in the Big 12 but tonight I am not,” Harlan said. “We won this game, someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed, I will talk to the commissioner. This is not fair to our team. I am disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”
Harlan’s own professionalism is probably the one that’s going to come under fire after this postgame rant. But it wasn’t all. He was even shown on camera at the end of the game gesticulating angrily towards the referees as the teams were clearing the field.
It seems like ever since SEC refs overturned a penalty after Texas fans threw junk on the field a few weeks ago that it has been open season on officials all over college football. It even happened again in the LSU-Alabama game when Kirk Herbstreit called out “clown” behavior from fans.
But it’s one thing when it’s unruly college fans taking umbrage with officiating, it’s entirely another when it’s the Utah athletic director calling into question the integrity of his own conference. If Utah is regretting their move to the Big 12, surely the Pac 12 or whatever is left of it would love to have them back.