Utah AD rips officials as BYU rallies -- Game 'stolen from us' - ESPN

SALT LAKE CITY — Much of the BYU football team was still on the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium celebrating a miraculous 22-21 win against rival Utah late Saturday night when Utes athletics director Mark Harlan made a surprise appearance at the postgame news conference.

In a fiery address, Harlan disparaged the officiating crew and challenged the validity of his school's loss.

«This game was absolutely stolen from us,» Harlan said. «We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed.

»I will talk to the commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I'm disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight."

Harlan, who does not regularly address the media after games, did not take questions following his stunning rebuke, nor did he elaborate further with any specifics.

It's a safe assumption, however, that Harlan's disdain was directed toward a holding call on cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn that negated Utah's fourth-down sack of BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff at the Cougars' 1-yard line with 1:29 left, which appeared to have ended the game.

«Whatever decision the refs make, I don't think they're trying to get it wrong, so that's just part of the game,» BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. «The refs are part of the game. We were able to capitalize on that.»

Utah's would-be sack of Rezlaff was the second time the largest crowd in Rice-Eccles history (54,383) thought the game was effectively over. Prior to the fourth-down play, BYU snapped the ball and Retzlaff was flushed out of the end zone, but Sitake had called a time out before the snap, likely saving the game in the process.

After the Cougars were given new life due to the holding call,