Big plays rarely happen on kickoffs. But when they do, you really don’t want to miss them. ESPN missed a kickoff during its broadcast of Saturday night’s game between Houston and BYU.
And it was a big play.
So, what happened?
Houston scored the first touchdown of the game late in the first quarter. After the PAT, ESPN went to a commercial break. When the break ended, the broadcast went not to announcers Dave Flemming and Brock Osweiler at LaVell Edwards Stadium — but to Matt Barrie in ESPN’s studio. Barrie was showing highlights of Oregon’s win over Washington as the Capital One Rewarding Performance.
“Hey, Brock Osweiler. What a beautiful day of college football,” Barrie said, kicking the coverage back to BYU.
Only, Osweiler couldn’t immediately respond. When cameras finally returned to LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYU’s Talan Alfrey was already in the end zone, having returned Houston’s kickoff for a score.
On Houston’s PAT, BYU was penalized 15 yards, thanks to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Isaiah Bagnah, meaning Houston was kicking off from midfield. That ended up being a big play in BYU’s favor. Rather than boot the kickoff through the end zone for a touchback, Houston got tricky — and BYU was ready for it.
Houston tried an onside kick. Alfrey not only recovered the onside kick but took full advantage of the short field in front of him, returning it 58 yards for the touchdown.
“Houston was kicking off from midfield,” Flemming said, narrating the replay. “They decided to try an onside kick. And it backfired, to say the least.”
Indeed it did.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
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