Yes, Utah's win over an unbeaten BYU was stolen — but not by the Big 12 or its refs

PROVO — In the moments following BYU's shocking 22-21 win over rival Utah, before head coach Kyle Whittingham could come to the podium to speak with the media about a missed opportunity for three minutes, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan stepped up to the dias and unleashed a rash of anger on the officiating crew at the game and the Big 12.

He denied that the Utes lost the game, arguing that "someone stole it from us," and railed about how "disappointed" he was in the league, in the officiating crew, and his "disgust" for the "professionalism of the officiating crew tonight."

Suffice it to say, the Big 12 didn't take kindly to Harlan's postgame tirade when it handed down a public reprimand and a $40,000 fine Sunday from commissioner Brett Yormark's office.

"There is a right way and a wrong way to voice concerns," Yormark said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Mark chose the wrong way."

Harlan, for his part, responded with a statement of his own. He didn't use words such as "apologize" or "sorry," but he did "recognize that there are more appropriate times and avenues to express those concerns, and I accept the consequences of my decision."

Truthfully, Harlan had a point.

The return of the BYU-Utah rivalry to Rice-Eccles Stadium was an opportunity for the Utes, who moved to 4-5 overall and 1-5 in Big 12 play with a fifth consecutive loss, to ruin BYU's charmed season before the Cougars salvaged a last-second win to improve to 9-0 and alone atop the Big 12 standings with a 6-0 record.

And Utah had the win in its grasp — until it didn't.

The Utes out-played BYU in the first half, out-gaining the Cougars with 180 yards to 151, and holding the visitors from Utah County without an offensive touchdown en route to a 21-10 halftime advantage.

Brandon Rose wasn't perfect in his first career start at quarterback, but he was more than good enough as he completed 8-of-10 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 44, just ahead of the 39 yards on eight carries by Micah Bernard.

If first-half stats were the goal, BYU would be figuring out a way to respond to its first loss of the season ahead of Saturday night's home kickoff against Kansas (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN+) instead of celebrating its first road win in the series since 2006.

"We didn't play our best in the first half," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "But we talked about it at halftime, and we thought 30 minutes was still enough time for us to come back and get a victory.

"We told them there was no need to panic," he later added of the halftime locker room. "But we needed more urgency. We needed to play more physical, especially up front."

The Cougars put up 188 yards of offense after the break, including 95 during a nine-play drive over 4:57 capped by Jake Retzlaff's dive across the goal line with 12:35 remaining that cut the deficit to 21-19 before Will Ferrin's game-winning field goal from 44 yards out with three seconds left.

"They hit us in the face early, and we just knew when we went back out there we just had to jump on them again," BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker said.

The "steal" signaled by Harlan and alluded to by Whittingham — though in significantly softer terms — was had by a BYU defense that kept the Utes to 79 yards in the second half, with five drives that ended in a punt and another that Crew Wakley stopped with BYU's 16th interception of the year.

Only once did Utah's offense stay on the field for more than four plays in a drive after halftime: a nine-play, 36-yard effort over 5:38 that ended with a punt with 2:32 left in the third.

The Utes averaged just 3.2 yards per play in the second half, with four first downs after converting 4-of-5 third downs in the first half (to 1-of-4 for BYU).

"Those guys were unbelievable," Retzlaff said of BYU's defense. "They were flying around in the second half. It was a lot of fun to watch."

So Harlan's comments probably shouldn't be directed at officials that whistled the Utes for defensive holding on a fourth-and-10 play with Retzlaff's back on his goal line — as well as those that called a late timeout by Sitake moments earlier. The culprit in this heist is more likely BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill.

The second-year associate head coach at BYU and former Utah defensive back and assistant coach put on a masterclass of halftime adjustments, sending just enough pressure that resulted in five tackles for loss to go with two interceptions, and a wrecking ball led by Harrison Taggart's eight tackles in the middle.

"I felt like we were kind of timid from the jump, and they had a few big runs," said Glasker, the former Utah fan from Bingham High who tied for second with Jack Kelly with seven tackles for the team in blue. "We just had to lock in."

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