The end of Saturday night’s BYU-Arizona State game was pure chaos.
Arizona State looked to be close to finishing off a win over the Cougars when disaster struck. ASU had 2nd and goal from inside the 5-yard line and a 28-23 lead. Instead of trying to make it a 2-score game with a touchdown, Arizona State began running backwards on purpose in order to churn through the remainder of the clock.
The plan would have worked, but Sam Leavitt’s sky-ball on 4th down evidently landed with 1 second remaining on the clock. That gave BYU the ball back on the 49-yard line — and a chance to potentially win the game with a Hail Mary.
Here’s a replay of Arizona State’s sequence:
Arizona State tries to chew all the clock pic.twitter.com/hN5ZFRhsDv
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) November 24, 2024
However, that was not the end of the story. Arizona State fans rushed the field — and took down the goalposts — before officials ruled that there was still time remaining in the game. That caused a significant delay before the Cougars were able to get their 4th-down play off.
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham was seen arguing with officials and pleading with fans to leave the playing field on multiple ocassions during the delay. Star running back Cam Skattebo even joined the efforts to try to clear the field.
Here’s a replay of the scene at Arizona State:
ASU fans stormed the field with one second left on the clock and now they’re trying to put the goal posts back up pic.twitter.com/unQOI45tan
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) November 24, 2024
After about a 15-minute delay, BYU was able to finally run the final play. It ended with a completion — but it was just a bit short of the goal line in the end, giving Arizona State the victory.
BYU COMPLETES THE HAIL MARY BUT ITS SHORT pic.twitter.com/17nYl8sJkp
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) November 24, 2024
