Utah athletic director Mark Harlan shares frustration with officiating in BYU game, says it was ‘absolutely stolen from us’

Utah athletic director Mark Harlan made an impromptu appearance at the podium following No. 9 BYU’s 22-21 come-from-behind victory over the Utes late Saturday night.

Harlan had scathing words about the officiating, saying the game was stolen from Utah.

“I’ve been an athletic director for 12 years. This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan told reporters. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not.”

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He continued: “We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed. I will talk to the (Big 12 Conference) commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight. Thank you.”

Utah gave up a game-winning drive to BYU in the final two minutes, capped by a 44-yard field goal from Will Ferrin with four seconds remaining.

The drive initially appeared to be over, though, when Jake Retzlaff was sacked at the BYU 1 on fourth down with more than a minute and a half to play.

The Utes, though, were called for a holding penalty on the play, giving the Cougars a first down and new life.

After the penalty, BYU proceeded to drive 65 yards for the winning score.

Utah led 21-10 at halftime — using three touchdown drives in the second quarter to take the lead — before BYU rallied by outscoring the Utes 12-0 in the second half.

Utah ended the night with 10 penalties for 90 yards.

When asked about the officiating, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, “It’s a ridiculous situation. I’m not going to get into it. … Things out there were ridiculous. I’ll leave it at that.”

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