Big 12 admits to making another replay error that led to BYU win over Arizona State
Big 12 admits to making another replay error that led to BYU win over Arizona State originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For the second time in three weeks, the Big 12 has admitted to an officiating error in a BYU game.
The eighth-ranked Cougars beat Arizona State 27-20 on Saturday, improving to 7-1 to bounce back from their loss to UCF and stay in the thick of the College Football Playoff race. But that one-score win, as is turned out, came with a bit of controversy.
The Big 12 said postgame that BYU’s first-quarter touchdown shouldn’t have counted due to a rule about fumbles.
Here’s why the conference said it made an error in awarding BYU a touchdown in its one-score win over Arizona State.
MORE:Why Georgia is the team to trust among CFP contenders
Big 12 admits to making replay error in BYU vs. Arizona State
On BYU’s first offensive drive Saturday, the Cougars had a second-and-goal from the one-yard line. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier attempted to punch in the touchdown himself, but lost the ball.
BYU running back Sione Moa picked it up and crossed the plane for a touchdown, but initially, officials blew the play dead and ruled that Bachmeier was down at the one-yard line. After one review, they changed the call, saying that Bachmeier did fumble, and BYU recovered it at the one-yard line. After a second review, the Big 12’s replay operations center concluded that the play should be overturned to a touchdown.
Crazy https://t.co/B7aHAJnIS6
— Next Impulse Sports (@NextImpulse) October 31, 2026
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham was seen arguing with officials over the call, but to no avail. Postgame, though, the Big 12 admitted it had made the incorrect call. Instead, Moa’s fumble recovery at the two-yard line should have been the end of the play.
According to the conference rule 12-3-3-d-2, when the replay official rules that a ball was not dead, it belongs to the recovering team — BYU in this instance — at the spot of recovery and cannot be advanced.
The touchdown should not have counted by that rule. Instead, BYU should have had third-and-goal at the two-yard line.
Big 12 statement on incorrect officials call in BYU-Arizona State game https://t.co/hQeSBdtyzS
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 1, 2026
Postgame, Dillingham expressed his disappointment at the incorrect call, which ultimately was a difference in the result.
"I was trying to argue that he does have the right to recover it post-whistle, but that’s not a clear advancement, which means the ball should be at the 3," Dillingham said, per ESPN. "Obviously, that wasn’t what happened. It’s not the officials’ fault. Those officials don’t have say in that. That’s all back home."
It marks the second time in three weeks that the Big 12 has been forced to release a statement about an incorrect officiating call in a BYU game. On Oct. 17 against Notre Dame, the conference said that one more second should have been put back on the clock for the Fighting Irish, which would have given them another chance to win. Instead, BYU won in an upset.
With those results now set in stone, another big game approaches for BYU next week, set to take on No. 6 Utah on the road.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.