TEMPE, Arizona — All is not lost for the No. 14-ranked BYU Cougars after Saturday afternoon’s devastating 28-23 loss to No. 21 Arizona State in front of 55,400 fans at Mountain America Stadium.
BYU (9-2, 6-2) is still in contention to play in the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas, thanks to Colorado — the other team that entered Saturday’s games with just one league loss — losing 37-21 to Kansas.
If the Cougars do make it to the Lone Star State, there’s no question about the team they want to see across the field at Jerry’s World. That would be the same ASU bunch that stunned them with a three-touchdown first half in Tempe.
Both offensive lineman Connor Pay and receiver Chase Roberts said they would absolutely love a rematch with a College Football Playoff berth on the line.
“If we (had) started faster, and played like we did in the second half, we would have blown this team out, and so, unfortunate, but we will come out with some fire next week against Houston and hopefully see these guys in the Big 12 championship because I really hope we see them in the Big 12 championship. I think we will take it to them,” Roberts said.
Pay shrugged off the way ASU fans stormed the field — twice — and taunted BYU players relentlessly as the Cougars trudged off to the locker room after the defeat.
Instead, he focused on what was said between players from both teams.
“It was very much mutual respect between me and the other players and a chance to congratulate some of the guys I knew and I told them I hoped to see them again in two weeks,” Pay said.
Noted BYU coach Kalani Sitake about the field storming and the unruliness of the fans, who possibly could have been penalized but were not: “I hate getting mad at the fans. They are so excited to get the win. It is two ranked teams that were playing. … It is OK,” Sitake said.
“None of our guys were hurt, so there is no big issue there. They eventually cleared it and we were able to get that one play. I understand the fans’ excitement and energy, and it is OK. I didn’t think they were too rude to us. They were excited about their win.”
Roberts had caught five passes for 59 yards before the final play in which he caught Jake Retzlaff’s Hail Mary attempt inside the 5. It wasn’t lost on the Cougars that if the officials had flagged ASU QB Sam Leavitt for intentional grounding, or the Sun Devils for storming the field, that Roberts might have been in the end zone when he hauled in the pass.
Of course, that’s a lot of ifs, ands and buts.
“That’s the game. I don’t think the game was won or lost in that one moment,” Sitake said. “It was the 59 minutes and 59 seconds before.”
The coach said officials told him that the Big 12 sent word that unsportsmanlike conduct should not be called on the fans.
“I don’t know. That was the conference’s decision and this game doesn’t come down to that,” Sitake said. “This ref crew was awesome.”
Pay called the wild scene at the end “fine” and said it didn’t bother BYU players that much. One unruly fan was taken down by three police officers and handcuffed as BYU’s contingent was attempting to leave the field.
“It is just people who were intoxicated. It is what it is. I got to see and talk to some of the ASU players that I knew and obviously the players you just competed against. It is very different than the fans who were in the stands and didn’t contribute to the game,” Pay said.
Really, the Cougars only have themselves to blame after starting so poorly, and they knew it.
“When we start fast, we are undefeated. That’s a fact, and that’s what we do. That’s BYU football. We start fast, and we play with heart and we don’t let them get close. We run away with it,” Roberts said.
“We weren’t able to do that today. We had to come back from behind. I love the fight in our team in the second half, and what we showed. I thought it was cool to watch. Unfortunately we came up short.”