Chase Roberts made the play of the game for BYU in the Cougars’ 38-31 win at Arkansas on Saturday night.
Turns out, it was also the play of the day nationally, at least according to ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Roberts’ leaping one-handed touchdown grab for the go-ahead score — a 7-yarder with 8 minutes to play — gave BYU the cushion it needed to beat Arkansas, as the Cougars defense kept the Razorbacks from scoring in the contest’s final minutes.
The game-winning effort came in at No. 1 on the top 10 plays of the day from “SportsCenter.”
Setting the scene
On Arkansas’ previous drive, the Razorbacks had a 49-yard field goal attempt clank off the upright and miss — if successful, that would have given Arkansas the lead just minutes into the fourth quarter.
On BYU’s ensuing drive with the game tied 31-31, the Cougars got third-down conversions from Parker Kingston (a 12-yard catch on third-and-10) and Kedon Slovis (an 8-yard run on third-and-8) before a Slovis 37-yard pass to Keelan Marion set BYU up inside the Arkansas red zone at the 10.
Two plays later on second-and-goal, Slovis spun in the pocket then threw high over two defenders towards Roberts in the end zone, where the wide receiver leapt and corralled the pass with one hand for the momentum-swinging touchdown.
Here’s a couple more angles of the play:
How social media reacted
The touchdown understandably created plenty of buzz on social media.
Here’s just a sampling of what was said about Roberts’ game-winning effort: