Big 12 says officials made mistake in BYU football’s win over Arizona State
Oct 31, 2026, 11:13 PM | Updated: 11:43 pm
PROVO — Another BYU football home game, and another week where the Big 12 Conference issues a statement about the officiating.
In BYU’s 27-20 win over Arizona State, the Cougars opened the game in the first quarter with a controversial touchdown run.
It was a second down from the Arizona State 1-yard line. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier fumbled the ball, and running back Sione Moa recovered it.1
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After two separate official reviews, the refs ended up saying that Moa, after gathering the fumble, found the end zone for the score.
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham was animated on the sideline when the call was overturned in favor of a touchdown. He was saying that was wrong.
Even the TV analyst on FOX, Mike Pereria, said as much when he gave his officiating expertise on the overturn.
Hours after BYU defeated the Sun Devils in Provo on Saturday, the Big 12 agreed that the touchdown should not have been awarded to BYU. Instead, they should have had a third-and-goal.
Crazy pic.twitter.com/B7aHAJnIS6
— Next Impulse Sports (@NextImpulse) October 31, 2026
Big 12 Conference statement on BYU’s 1st quarter TD against Arizona State
From the Big 12 Conference:
At 11:27 in the first period of the Arizona State-BYU game, Big 12 Replay Officials stopped the game to review possession by BYU. The play showed that the runner lost possession of the ball prior to the forward progress spot, and the ball was recovered by another BYU player at the two-yard line and he was awarded a touchdown.
Rule 12-3-3-d-2 states, “If the replay official rules that the ball was not dead, it belongs to the recovering team at the spot of the recovery and any advance is nullified.”
Replay was incorrect in awarding a score. The correct ruling should have been BYU ball for a third and goal attempt from the two-yard line.
Two weeks ago, after BYU’s memorable 28-24 win over Notre Dame, the Big 12 Conference said one second should have remained on the clock in the BYU-Notre Dame game.
With the win over Arizona State, BYU improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play. Next up for BYU is a rivalry matchup against Utah on November 7 at 10 a.m. (MT) on ABC and KSL NewsRadio.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
