The Holy Score: BYU, Utah collide with soaring postseason stakes and Big 12 working to prevent officiating mistakes

With a prime slot on ABC, the latest installment of the Holy War could generate the largest TV audience in the history of the rivalry. Without question, it will be one of the highest-rated Big 12 games of the season.

Some viewers might even watch No. 3 Utah and No. 9 BYU. But many will be locked on the stars of the show, the eight men (and women) wearing white and black and toting yellow flags.

Yes, sure: We're being sarcastic. But the tone isn't entirely without merit. The unmistakable, indisputable backdrop to a Holy War for the ages is the wobbly state of Big 12 officiating, which has experienced three major missteps in recent weeks.

All three benefitted the same team: BYU.

Is there favoritism involved? Absolutely not.

But the perception is decidedly suboptimal with the Cougars heading to Rice-Eccles Stadium for a matchup with massive implications for the Big 12 race and the College Football Playoff.

Especially given what happened the last time the Cougars set foot in Salt Lake City.

Remember BYU's game-winning drive on Nov. 9, 2024?

On fourth down, deep in his own territory, quarterback Jake Retzlaff was sacked to (seemingly) end the game. But the Utes were called for a controversial defensive holding penalty, giving the Cougars an automatic first down that they turned into the decisive field goal.

After the game, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan excoriated the officials, venturing into territory ADs rarely wade. He was reprimanded, of course. But the Utes have not forgotten. Nor has the Big 12.

Two years later, the Cougars are headed back to the scene of the fine. Only this time, the conference's officiating operation is reeling from high-profile gaffes that occurred in each of the past three BYU games.

To be clear, they were not judgment calls like targeting or pass interference or holding. Instead, the breakdowns were rooted in the mechanics of officiating and interpretation/application of the rules:

— When Notre Dame visited BYU three weeks ago, the on-field officials ended the game with the Irish in the Red Zone, trailing by 4 points, and one second left on the clock.

The mistake was egregious enough that the conference issued a public statement:

"Following the Big 12's review of the final play of Saturday's Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew."

— The following week, at UCF, the Cougars benefitted from a 10-second runoff near the end of regulation that should not have been conducted.

The conference did not issue a statement, but others chimed in.

"At the end of regulation in BYU/UCF, there should not have been a 10-second runoff," NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay noted on the social media platform X. "The clock stopping for the helmet off was not the only reason it stopped. It also stopped because it was the end of a legal kick down."

— Last week, BYU tailback Sione Moa recovered his own fumble near Arizona State's goal line on second down. Despite being ruled down, he advanced the ball into the end zone.

The replay officials awarded a touchdown that should not have counted in a game the Cougars would win by 7 points.

Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira was baffled: "You can give a recovery, but you can't give an advance unless we've come up with a new rule here."

McAulay called it "a stunning rules error by Replay."

That incident also prompted a statement from the conference: "Replay was incorrect in awarding a score. The correct ruling should have been BYU ball for a third-and-goal attempt from the 2-yard line."

Now, let's be ultra clear about a few things.

First, the Big 12 is hardly the only conference that has issued statements this season in response to errors in officiating mechanics or application of the rules.

Everyone remembers the Big Ten's Category 5 clock mess at the end of the Western Michigan-Michigan game. A few weeks later, the conference again went public to explain the incorrect spotting of the ball late in the Oregon-UCLA game — a mistake that absolutely impacted the Bruins' narrow victory.

And earlier this week, the Pac-12 acknowledged the play clock was incorrectly set during an Oregon State possession early in the loss at Fresno State.

The Big 12's issues are not about half- or fully-baked conspiracy theories. Instead, they are rooted in a series of deeply unfortunate coincidences. (BYU has done nothing wrong, after all.)

But because the mistakes have occurred three consecutive weeks, all with the same team benefiting — and because that team is now playing a huge game in its rival's stadium where a controversial call was made two years ago — everyone will have one eye on the officials Saturday morning.

"Damndest thing I've ever seen," McAulay wrote on X. "Three significant Replay rules errors in three consecutive weeks involving the same team is insane."

The Big 12 is well aware of the sequence of events, the team impacted and the optics forming on the horizon. And its top football executives are attempting to ward off more problems before the situation reaches DEFCON 1.

Are the mistakes entirely isolated in nature? Is there connective tissue, however thin, that can be identified and rectified? Could the oversight process be fortified?

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, an executive meeting has been called this week involving everyone associated with the officiating operation. The day and time aren't known, but the meeting will address all aspects of Big 12 football officiating days before the biggest conference game of the season.

Don't expect three hours of peace and harmony Saturday morning.

As with so many games, there could be a controversial penalty on a judgment call — something comparable to the pass interference that wasn't flagged at the end of the Alabama-Georgia game. (It arguably cost the Crimson Tide the victory.)

But in theory, the Big 12's all-hands meeting will reduce the likelihood of another mistake in the rules interpretation and application.

It cannot happen again. Not this week. Not this game.

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