No. 9 BYU stunned Utah 22-21 on last-minute field goal after controversial penalty sparked victory

BYU is still undefeated. In one way or another.

The No. 9 The Cougars took advantage of a fourth-down holding penalty to shock Utah 22-21 late Saturday night. The Utes had led throughout the second half and appeared to have the game wrapped up when QB Jake Retzlaff threw three incompletions and was sacked just short of his goal line with 90 seconds left.

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 up the middle with 1:13 left. Seven plays after that, Will Ferrin kicked a 44-yard field goal with three seconds left.

After the game, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan wasted no time calling out the referees, saying, “This game was absolutely stolen from us. We were excited to be in the Big 12, but tonight I’m not. We won this game; someone else stole it from us. I’ll talk to the (Big 12) commissioner crew tonight.”

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was far less direct in his assessment of the officials, though he was clearly not pleased.

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 solve offensive problems and were 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 started in place of the injured Cameron Rising. Rose threw TDs to Brant Kuithe and Micah Bernard in the 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 nearly pulled off the upset. Retzlaff was sacked three times and had several passes tipped at the line of scrimmage. But the Utes couldn’t get the final 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 in 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 of the power four conferences without a loss.

And the win means the Cougars are another step closer to the Big 12 title game and can clinch a championship game spot with two more wins. The Cougars are 6-0 in the conference and one game ahead of second-place Colorado and four third-place teams. Wins over Kansas and Arizona State — one of the third-ranked teams — would allow the Cougars to clinch a spot in the title game before the final week of the season.