Harlan was referring to a holding call that extended BYU’s eventual game-winning drive and gave BYU life with 1:30 remaining. BYU was faced with 4th & 10 from its own nine yard-line and BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff was sacked. A turnover on downs at that point would have ended the game. Instead, a defensive holding penalty was called on Utah DB Zemaiah Vaughn and BYU was given a first down.
The controversial call, and Harlan’s post-game rant, made national headlines.
Turns out, the Big 12 believes the correct call was made. Every week, teams can submit plays for review to Big 12 football officials coordinator Greg Burks. The team states their view on the call and Burks markes either “agree” or “disagree”.
The Avalanche-Journal obtained the game-review document of the BYU-Utah game by accident. According to their article, the Avalanche-Journal “obtained the game-review document via an open-records request to Texas Tech for correspondence with the Big 12 relating to the Tech-Colorado game the same day.” Included in the game-review document were all Big 12 games from that weekend, including BYU-Utah.
The Utah staff questioned the controversial call on the final drive, saying the contact “does not impede the WR ability to progress vertically up the field.”
Burks marked “disagree”. Burks responded, saying “QB (Retzlaff) looks to #5 (Vaughn) immediately after the snap, as receiver moves to go around the defender, the defender grabs the receiver and prevents him from running his route. Correct call.”
The Utah staff submitted six plays for reviews. Burks “disagreed” with the Utah staff on five out of six. The only call where Burks was aligned with the Utah staff was a “holding” call in the third quarter. The referees mistakenly announced a “holding” call on #82 instead of #83. The call itself was not in question.
Burks is not afraid to go against the original calls on the field, either. According to the Avalanche-Journal, Burks acknowledged incorrect calls on 5/13 plays submitted for review in the Colorado-Texas Tech game. Burks also acknowledged incorrect calls on 2/10 plays from the Cincinnati-West Virginia game.
Burks’ review contradicts Harlan’s statements, claiming the game was “stolen” from Utah.
Mark Harlan Storms the Field
Perhaps more bizarre than his comments after the game were Harlan’s actions before the game was even over. After BYU made the game-winning field goal to take a 22-21 lead, Utah had one final play to try to win the game. The Utes made it to midfield with some lateral attempts before being tackled. A flag for unsportsmanlike conduct was thrown on Utah during the play and the game ended. The flag was called on the “Utah bench”, so initially it was unclear who caused the flag to be thrown.
Turns out, the penalty was on Mark Harlan. Harlan entered the field of play before the game was over. Images of Harlan on the field during the final play have made their way to social media. Harlan is seen walking on the field towards the referee while Smith Snowden is returning the kickoff.
So what does that mean? Even if Utah had pulled off a miraculous touchdown, it wouldn’t have counted. The flag against Harlan would have offset the touchdown and BYU would have won.
Actions like the ones from Mark Harlan were unprecedented. Athletic Directors should never enter the field during the game – Harlan entered the field on the final play and his actions could have cost Utah the game. Athletic Directors typically don’t confront referees after games – Harlan confronted the referees after the game. Athletic Directors don’t address the media after games – Harlan took the stage to express his frustration with the referees.
The post-game rant by Harlan was a bad look for the Big 12. Turns out, there was no basis for his rant and post-game antics in the first place.
After BYU’s dramatic 22-21 win over Utah, Utah director of athletics Mark Harlan took the stage to claim that the referees “stole” the game from Utah. Harlan’s comments, at least from someone in his position, were unprecedented in the history of the BYU-Utah rivalry.
The Avalanche-Journal obtained the game-review document of the BYU-Utah game by accident. According to their article, the Avalanche-Journal “obtained the game-review document via an open-records request to Texas Tech for correspondence with the Big 12 relating to the Tech-Colorado game the same day.” Included in the game-review document were all Big 12 games from that weekend, including BYU-Utah.
The Utah staff questioned the controversial call on the final drive, saying the contact “does not impede the WR ability to progress vertically up the field.”
Burks marked “disagree”. Burks responded, saying “QB (Retzlaff) looks to #5 (Vaughn) immediately after the snap, as receiver moves to go around the defender, the defender grabs the receiver and prevents him from running his route. Correct call.”
The Utah staff submitted six plays for reviews. Burks “disagreed” with the Utah staff on five out of six. The only call where Burks was aligned with the Utah staff was a “holding” call in the third quarter. The referees mistakenly announced a “holding” call on #82 instead of #83. The call itself was not in question.
Burks is not afraid to go against the original calls on the field, either. According to the Avalanche-Journal, Burks acknowledged incorrect calls on 5/13 plays submitted for review in the Colorado-Texas Tech game. Burks also acknowledged incorrect calls on 2/10 plays from the Cincinnati-West Virginia game.
Burks’ review contradicts Harlan’s statements, claiming the game was “stolen” from Utah
“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight we are not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. I’m 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. Thank you
