Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Arizona State defeated BYU 28-23, improving their Big 12 record to 9-2.
- The game ended with a failed Hail Mary and a bizarre double field storm.
- BYU's second-half rally fell short, despite strong performances from key players.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State fans must've been so impressed by the Sun Devils' best record since 2014 that they had to celebrate it twice.
The Sun Devils improved to 9-2 and 6-2 in Big 12 play when Jake Retzlaff's Hail Mary pass to Chase Roberts finished short of the end zone for a 28-23 win over the 14th-ranked Cougars.
The student section of the 54,500 sellout crowd at Mountain American Stadium couldn't keep themselves off the field twice to celebrate a win that put Arizona State in the drivers' seat for a Big 12 championship game berth.
Roberts was ruled down about 3 yards short of the goal line after officials blew the play dead, but the final catch wasn't included in his final game statistics. Instead, the official game book initially read Roberts finished with five catches for 59 yards, and Retzlaff's pass was broken up by Arizona State's Javan Robinson (who also had an interception).
It won't change the final result.
But BYU's penchant for winning closes games has officially run out a week after taking their first loss of the season to Kansas (which beat No. 16 Colorado 37-21 and could send the league title game to tiebreaker scenarios in two weeks).
The scenes at Mountain America Stadium were jubilant — and possibly a little inebriated — as fans spilled over the railings to celebrate the Sun Devils' highest-ranked win since joining the Big 12 this past summer.
Not even a home fan being wrestled to the ground in restraints and being removed from the field after an altercation with a BYU staff member could quiet the crowd, which hurled epithets toward BYU supporters and raised certain fingers upward while Cougar players, coaches and staff members were escorted from the field by local law enforcement.
"We won the football game," said Arizona State second-year coach Kenny Dillingham, preferring to focus on his players. "We beat another ranked team at Mountain America Stadium, so this is all about the guys. These guys battled, these guys fought and found a way to win. Whatever happened at the end, it happened.
"You know what? We got to rush the field twice; how about that?"
It was certainly a singular experience, BYU center Connor Pay admitted after the visitors had to wait for 15 minutes amid a full field of fans before being allowed one last play following Leavitt's incomplete deep pass on fourth-and-49.
"It was fine. It was just annoying," Pay said. "We just wanted them to get off the field when the refs made the final decision, and there was one second left so we could run the final play."
Pay added that the fans he encountered were cordial, even allowing the Lone Peak product to see several friends who play for Arizona State before he made his way to the locker room without incident.
Retzlaff will take a second consecutive loss after throwing for 297 yards with a touchdown and two costly interceptions.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake credited Cam Skattebo's 147 yards and three touchdowns, or Leavitt's 247 passing yards and a score.
"This game didn't come down to that," said Sitake, referring to the final play and the premature field storm. "That's just the game. This ref crew was awesome, they communicated well with me. We had a chance to snap the ball from the 49. We would have loved to have it closer, but that's just the game. The game wasn't won or lost in that moment.
"It was the 59 minutes and 59 seconds before."
Indeed, the Cougars' loss will fall squarely on BYU's collective effort that went down 21-0 and was held to a single Will Ferrin field goal before halftime — and not the way in which the visitors couldn't finish a rally.
Sure, credit BYU for a stirring second-half rally that included two rushing touchdowns from Keelan Marion and improved play from the offensive line after the Cougars ran for just 25 yards before halftime.
BYU's offense contributed 391 yards to Arizona State's 401, finishing with 94 yards on the ground and keeping Skattebo to 54 yards on the ground after he ran for 93 yards and three touchdowns before the break.
But that same offense that posted three touchdowns and an interception in the second half before the one-play non game-winner also stalled before the break, totaling just 124 yards on 29 plays in four first-half drives that ended in a turnover on downs, an interception, a punt and finally Ferrin's 49-yard field goal 25 seconds before halftime.
"Obviously, it hurts," said Pay, whose team will face Houston in next week's regular-season finale (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN). "You had chances to win, and it sucks for us as an offense to play the first half that way."
