Big 12 admits officiating error that gifted BYU touchdown over Arizona State

A day after the Sun Devils lost by a single touchdown to No. 8 BYU, the Big 12 has come out and admitted that BYU's first touchdown of the game should not have happened, as the officials erroneously awarding the Cougars a score.

The controversy came early in the game, as BYU had the ball in a goal-to-go situation and they ran a quarterback sneak with Bear Bachmeier. During the scrum, Bachmeier fumbled the ball and running back Sione Moa recovered the ball and ran in for a touchdown.

The play was initially ruled a touchdown, but replay review marked the ball dead at the spot Moa recovered it. Then, the officials went into a second review after making the announcement, an unusual move that is not in keeping with the rules.

The second review determined that Moa was not touched down when he recovered the ball, and therefore the original ruling of a touchdown was upheld, giving BYU its first points of the game.

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham was furious on the sideline, and the broadcast's officiating expert, Mike Pereira, explained why: per the rules, the ball should have been ruled dead at the spot it was recovered, with no advancement allowed.

That's exactly what the Big 12 acknowledged Sunday morning, validating Dillingham's argument that the Cougars should not have been given a touchdown.

Obviously, BYU likely would've scored on this drive anyway had the officials made the correct call, with a field goal at the very least. But it's a frustrating turn of events where the coaches know the rules better than the ones who are supposed to be the arbiters of truth on the field.

Furthermore, the way this game ended - a one-touchdown loss for the heavy underdog Sun Devils - only makes it that much more upsetting. In such a close game like this one, that kind of officiating mistake simply cannot happen.