The Big 12 gave Arizona State the answer it deserved Sunday: BYU’s first touchdown should not have counted.
That answer is specific. It does not erase the rest of BYU’s 27-20 win, and it does not prove what would have happened on the next snap.
The conference reviewed the first-quarter sequence and cited Rule 12-3-3-d-2. Bear Bachmeier lost the ball on second-and-goal. Sione Moa recovered it at the 2-yard line and carried it into the end zone. Replay awarded a touchdown. The Big 12 now says the advance should have been nullified, leaving BYU with third-and-goal from the 2.
The correction matters because the final margin was seven points. It also requires more care than simply subtracting seven from BYU’s score. The proper ruling would have created another live down, not an automatic turnover or an empty possession.
BYU benefited from a clear replay error. BYU also won the game with a fourth-quarter field goal, a 95-yard touchdown drive and a defense that held Arizona State to 20 points. Both facts fit on the same page.
What the Big 12 corrected
The Big 12’s official statement identifies the mistake without hedging. The conference says Moa recovered Bachmeier’s fumble at the 2-yard line and was incorrectly allowed to advance it.
Its conclusion is direct: “Replay was incorrect in awarding a score.”
The prescribed result was BYU ball, third-and-goal from the 2. That distinction matters.
The play did not become Arizona State possession. The conference did not say Bachmeier was down at the 1, which was part of the initial on-field confusion. It ruled that the fumble recovery belonged to BYU at the recovery spot and that Moa’s subsequent run could not count.
The officials reached the touchdown after two reviews. The first established a fumble and BYU recovery. A second review from the conference replay operation turned the recovery into a score. Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham argued the advance issue on the sideline. The later statement confirms the rule point behind his objection.
There is no fan-spin version needed here. The touchdown ruling was wrong.
The honest counterfactual begins at third-and-goal
A corrected ruling gives BYU one snap from the 2-yard line on third down. Everything after that becomes unknown.
BYU could have scored a touchdown. It could have lost yardage, committed a penalty, turned the ball over or settled for a field goal. A fourth-down decision may have followed. Arizona State’s next possession would have started with a different score, at a different time and possibly from a different field position.
That branching effect is why “the officials gave BYU seven points” goes one step beyond the evidence. Replay wrongly placed seven points on the board. It did not remove BYU’s chance to earn points on the next two downs.
The game offers evidence in both directions.
BYU struggled to run all afternoon, finishing with 47 yards on 30 official attempts. Arizona State repeatedly won ordinary rushing downs. A goal-line stop was possible.
BYU also converted 3 of 4 fourth downs and scored on all four red-zone trips. The Cougars eventually finished a 95-yard drive with Moa’s 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. A touchdown from the 2 was possible too.
Neither fact settles the missing snap. That is the point. The only defensible correction is the one the conference issued: third-and-goal from the 2.
Seven points make the mistake consequential, not conclusive
The final score gives the error extra weight. BYU won by seven, 27-20, and the disputed touchdown supplied the first points of the game.
A one-score margin means the ruling belongs in any honest account of the afternoon. Our original Arizona State recap described Moa’s loose-ball recovery as BYU’s first touchdown before the conference published its correction. The official statement changes that paragraph’s interpretation. It does not change the final record or BYU’s completed 7-1 mark.
The finalized WMT board now records the full game:
| Game fact | BYU | Arizona State |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 27 | 20 |
| Total yards | 283 | 279 |
| Red-zone scores | 4 of 4 | 3 of 3 |
| Third downs | 3 of 13 | 6 of 17 |
| Fourth downs | 3 of 4 | 2 of 2 |
| Turnovers lost | 2 | 1 |
| Sacks | 6 | 1 |
Those numbers show why the touchdown cannot be isolated from the rest of the game as if the next 55 minutes would have run on rails.
Arizona State erased BYU’s 17-3 halftime lead with two third-quarter touchdown drives. BYU answered with Matthias Dunn’s 45-yard field goal and the 95-yard possession that ended with 2:09 left. The Sun Devils then kicked a field goal, failed to recover an onside kick and finished seven points short.
Change the first score and every later decision changes with it. BYU may approach fourth down differently. Arizona State may chase points earlier. Field-goal choices, clock use and play calls move with the score.
The error was large enough to affect the game. No available source can show that it decided the game.
Three weeks of administrative errors are the larger problem
The Arizona State ruling did not arrive alone.
After BYU’s 28-24 win over Notre Dame, the Big 12 acknowledged that one second should have remained after the Irish’s final incomplete pass. Notre Dame should have received another play from the BYU 8. The conference said it would review its end-of-game process before the following weekend.
At UCF, another unusual rule produced an avoidable mess. UCF’s third-down field goal was blocked with 11 seconds left in a 24-24 game. Kicker Will Stone recovered the ball behind the line of scrimmage, and his helmet came off during the tackle. Officials applied a 10-second runoff and ended regulation.
NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay explained that the runoff should not have applied because the end of a legal kick down already stopped the clock. UCF should have retained a fourth-down opportunity. The Knights won 39-31 in double overtime anyway, so the mistake did not preserve BYU’s unbeaten season.
Now the conference has formally corrected a replay ruling that awarded BYU a touchdown against Arizona State.
The common thread is not a difficult spot or a judgment call at full speed. It is administration after the play: remaining time, a runoff rule and the allowed advance after replay changes possession. Those are the situations replay and conference support are supposed to clarify.
Fans can argue about holding and pass interference until the snow melts off Timp. These three sequences are different. Each turns on a rule or process that can be checked away from the collision.
That is why another statement is not enough by itself. The Big 12 needs a cleaner operation before the next close finish makes the explanation part of the standings conversation.
BYU should not build a grievance or hide behind one
BYU has benefited from the Notre Dame clock ending and the Arizona State touchdown. The UCF runoff also denied the Knights a possible regulation win, though UCF finished the job in overtime. Saying so does not cheapen every snap the Cougars played.
It should sharpen the way BYU evaluates itself.
The Cougars cannot take the Arizona State correction and pretend the first touchdown was clean. They also cannot let the officiating debate cover 47 rushing yards, a 3-for-13 third-down line or the two third-quarter drives that turned a 14-point lead into a tie.
The football lesson from Saturday remains the same. BYU’s six sacks kept Arizona State from pairing Cardae Mack’s rushing production with a functional downfield pass game. Bachmeier threw for 236 yards while the run game stalled. When the game reached its deciding stretch, BYU drove 95 yards and converted the downs it needed.
That work is why the Cougars had more than one disputed moment to stand on.
Utah will not care how BYU fans apportion blame for a replay decision. The permanent Utah game center lists a 10 a.m. Mountain kickoff Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, with No. 7 BYU meeting No. 3 Utah. The football schedule and How to Watch hub carry the official details.
A top-10 Holy War is a poor place to count on administrative rescue. BYU needs the cleaner version of its own football: enough rushing production to stay out of third-and-long, enough early-down defense to avoid 16-play disadvantages, and enough finishing work to make one replay ruling less powerful.
The correction belongs in the record
The Big 12 did the minimum necessary thing by publishing a clear statement. The wrong part of the play is now public, the controlling rule is named and the proper down-and-distance is on record.
BYU fans should not dodge it. Arizona State fans should not have to pretend the next play was already decided.
The clean reading is narrower and more honest. Moa’s advance should not have counted. BYU should have faced third-and-goal from the 2. The Cougars instead received seven points and eventually won by seven.
That makes the error serious. It does not turn an unknown next snap into a known alternate final.
BYU leaves the weekend with the win, the correction and a simple warning before Utah: play well enough that the next conference statement is not part of the résumé.
Sources and further reading
- Big 12 Conference: statement on officiating in Arizona State-BYU for the official correction, cited rule and proper third-and-goal ruling.
- BYU Athletics: stable event record 24747, official box score and football schedule for the completed event identity and final result.
- WMT Statistics: finalized game 6619554 for the 27-20 final, team totals, red-zone rates, down efficiency, turnovers, sacks and attendance.
- ESPN: Big 12 admits replay error for independent reporting on the review sequence and Arizona State’s objection.
- Associated Press: BYU holds off Arizona State for independent confirmation of the final, fourth-quarter scoring sequence and Bachmeier’s passing total.
- Yahoo Sports: UCF runoff error and AP: Notre Dame clock correction for the prior two officiating sequences.
- BYU brand colors and Arizona State brand guide for the verified palettes used in the original matchup art.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Arizona State recap, Arizona State game center, Utah game center and football results.
