‘This game was absolutely stolen from us’: Mark Harlan speaks out after Utah’s rivalry loss

SALT LAKE CITY – Two plays changed the course of the game – and none counted as an official play in the record books.

Facing fourth-and-10 at the BYU 9-yard line and trailing by two points with just over a minute left in regulation, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff rolled out of the pocket with no way out as the Utah’s defense pursued him.

But just as defensive end Logan Fano tried to put Retzlaff in the pocket, the lead referee called the play dead and called for a timeout called by head coach Kalani Sitake – even though several seconds were missing from the clock.

So the two teams tried again after a short timeout.

This time, linebacker Karene Reid bull-rushed Retzlaff and got some help from Junior Tafuna to push the QB seemingly safely into the end zone – and essentially a win for Utah.

However, the game was declared over when Utah cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn was called for a holding penalty on the outside, handing BYU a new string of losses.

The rest is history as Retzlaff led BYU down the field, including a 30-yard pass to Chase Roberts to set up placekicker Will Ferrin for the game-winning 44-yard field goal.

Ball game.

But those two games deep in BYU territory brought disrepute to Utah officials, including athletic director Mark Harlan and head coach Kyle Whittingham.

Just minutes after the final whistle, Harlan went to the podium and made a short, heated statement aimed at the Big 12 officiating.

“I’ve been the athletic director for 12 years,” Harlan said. “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. Very disappointed. I’ll speak to the commissioner. That wasn’t the case.” Fair for our team. I am disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.

Both Harlan and Whittingham were both seen on the ESPN broadcast confronting the officials over their roles at the finish, with Whittingham later saying, “Things out there were ridiculous.”

A frustrated Whittingham tried to avoid the topic in his post-match press conference but the emotions were too much.

“No, I don’t want to go through that,” he said. “They are what they are; they are what they are. It’s a ridiculous situation. I’m not going to get involved, so yeah.”

He further explained that his frustration stemmed from the “two previous calls.”

“The game was over – it was over, but then it wasn’t,” he said.

Whittingham said his players “fought” and “did everything they could from start to finish” and that the defeat was “not on them, it was not on them”.

“It is unfortunate that it has come to this,” he added.

Although the two unofficial plays at the end of the game had a result, Utah was unable to score any points in the second half after controlling a 21-10 lead at halftime. With Brandon Rose under center in his first start in Utah, the offense finally had a spark.

Until it didn’t.

Utah seemed to get conservative in the second half – a marked change from the first half in which Utah outscored BYU – and struggled to move the ball on several drives. But Whittingham said the team “just didn’t quite get it done.”

He then pointed out that senior tight end Brant Kuithe was unable to play in the second half after suffering a season-ending injury, limiting some of Utah’s options.

“Unfortunately he is out this year and unfortunately it looks serious,” Whittingham said. “He was attacked from behind, as I heard during the game. He ran a route, didn’t even get the ball thrown to him and was tackled from behind – from what I was told; I haven’t seen t, obviously.”

After going three-pointers on the game’s first drive (three consecutive running plays) and intercepting a return pass from Rose to Damien Alford on the second drive, who threw the ball in the air, allowing triple coverage, Utah’s offense finally got going.

Just over a minute into the second quarter, Rose connected with Kuithe in the front corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown catch, giving the Utes a 7-3 lead over the visiting Cougars. But BYU immediately answered with a 96-yard kickoff return to take the lead.

Minutes later, Kuithe reached the end zone again with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that lasted just over seven minutes before retaking the lead with a 1-yard wildcat run. And then, just before halftime, Utah extended its lead with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Micah Bernard, who stuck the ball out to hit the pylon for a touchdown and a 21-10 lead at halftime.

It’s the first time this season that a team has scored 21 points on BYU in the first half.

But that was all Utah could muster in the end.