Overview
- The Big 12 said late Saturday that replay officials wrongly awarded a first-quarter touchdown to BYU in the Cougars’ 27-20 win over Arizona State by allowing an advance after a fumble recovery instead of spotting the ball at the recovery point.
- The conference cited Rule 12-3-3-d-2, which says a recovering team is awarded the ball at the spot of recovery and any forward advance is nullified, and said the correct ruling would have been BYU ball at the two-yard line for third-and-goal.
- Broadcasters and rules analysts on the FOX telecast, including Mike Pereira, and Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham publicly criticized the decision on the field and in postgame comments, saying the play had been effectively ruled dead before the recovery was advanced.
- The admission is the third postgame acknowledgment involving BYU in a three-week span, following a missed clock review in BYU’s win over Notre Dame and disputed clock/runoff rulings in BYU’s game at UCF, creating a pattern of procedural failures for Big 12 replay operations.
- Although the game result stands, the error altered the margin in a one-possession outcome and has prompted calls for a review of the Big 12’s replay and clock procedures as stakeholders warn the mistakes could affect standings and competitive fairness.