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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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It’s been a rough month for Big 12 officials, and Saturday didn’t do anything to help their case.
The No. 8 BYU Cougars held off the Arizona State Sun Devils 27-20 in Provo, but the bigger story was a first-quarter touchdown that took two replay reviews — and a reversal of the officials’ own ruling — to award it.
Facing second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier fumbled, and officials ruled his forward progress had been stopped, giving the Cougars the ball at the 1-yard line.
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However, a second review credited running back Sione Moa with recovering the fumble and getting into the end zone for a touchdown. Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira wasn’t buying it.
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“This was a player that recovered the ball and got up in the field of play,” Pereira said during the broadcast. “The ruling on the field was the runner was down initially, and if that’s the case, you’ve ruled it dead. You can give a recovery, but you can’t give an advance unless we’ve come up with a new rule here, which I’m not too sure that you can really do.”
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham was visibly upset on the sideline, and Fox analyst Robert Griffin III sided with him.
“Mikey P is 100% correct,” Griffin said. “Kenny Dillingham is justified in being frustrated about this situation because now this is three weeks in a row where we’ve had Big 12 officials just making up rules as they go.”
Griffin wasn’t even exaggerating. BYU’s 28-24 upset of Notre Dame on Oct. 17 ended one second too early — something the Big 12 admitted the next day — on a play where many felt the Fighting Irish deserved a pass interference flag.
One week later, the Cougars’ 39-31 double-overtime loss at UCF was riddled with questionable calls as well. That’s why former Notre Dame quarterback turned Fox “Big Noon Kickoff” analyst Brady Quinn believes it’s time to take officiating out of the conferences’ hands altogether.
“Nationalize officiating,” Quinn wrote on X. “Stop letting conferences have control. Big 12 has been a disaster this season but an example of the inconsistency week to week.”
Quinn’s remarks hit home for many fans because the Big 12 isn’t the only league with a problem. Florida State was fuming after two Hail Mary touchdowns were wiped away in a double-overtime loss to Miami on Oct. 17 — the same night BYU-Notre Dame ended early.
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