Big 12 AD eviscerates officials after loss in Week 11: ‘This game was stolen from us’

BYU won its Holy War rivalry game against Utah 22-21 late Saturday night. Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, however, feels the Utes won the game but had it stolen from them.

“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said postgame before Kyle Whittingham’s remarks “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us.

“Very disappointed. I will talk to the commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”

A message from Utah AD Mark Harlan: pic.twitter.com/thI9hNRdbY

— Steve Bartle (@BartleKSLsports) November 10, 2024

Harlan appears to be upset with a defensive holding call.

BYU won the game 22-21 thanks to a 44-yard field goal made with only a few seconds remaining. Harlan appears to believe the Cougars should have turned the ball over on downs before having the field-goal opportunity. BYU faced 4th-and-10 deep in its own territory. Defensive holding on Utah kept the drive alive for the Cougars, and they took advantage of that opportunity.

This is the best and only look you’ll get at the 4th and 10 defensive holding call on Utah that extended BYU’s season pic.twitter.com/sk8yUZNG1K

— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) November 10, 2024

With the 22-21 victory, No. 9 BYU improves to 9-0 on the season.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.