No. 21 ASU storms the field, twice, as No. 14 BYU’s Hail Mary comes up short on game's final play

TEMPE, Ariz. — The amount of fans grew on the fields as it spread from ASU's pitchfork logo to both teams' end zones.

Goal posts started to fall, the sidelines of both teams were cleared and fans celebrated a victory for their Sun Devils.

Arizona State was about to become undefeated at home and set itself up for a chance at the Big 12 conference championship game after an impressive defensive play against a BYU offense that couldn’t be stopped in the second half.

Or so every fan on the field thought.

Instead of getting the 28-23 win for No. 21 Arizona State (9-2) against No. 14 BYU (9-2), the clock was deemed to have one second left after a ASU QB Sam Leavitt pass landed out of bounds in the stands to the dismay of all Sun Devil fans.

To make matters worse, the play happened on fourth down, so the ball was going to be given back to the Cougars for one final play.

Everyone on the field celebrating a win now had to suddenly get off the field whether they wanted to or not.

With BYU QB Jake Retzlaff in the pocket, the ball was snapped and just before he got hit, the ball was sailing in the air. With time expiring, BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts was the one among the crowd of ASU defenders and BYU wide receivers to get the ball and seemingly make a catch, though it was ruled incomplete.

Unfortunately though, even if the catch counted, it occurred right in front of the end zone and Roberts was tackled before he could get the touchdown. ASU was able to hold off the miracle and secure the 28-23 win.

“Wish I was about four yards further,” said Roberts. “Unfortunatly, yeah, just came up short.”

With fans already in prime position, ASU students and fans rushed the field for a second time. This time, they were fast enough to go up and film Roberts with the game ball still in his hand.

It was lucky that BYU was even in a position to win due to Retzlaff throwing what seemed to be a game-ending interception on the previous drive.

With the ball at BYU’s 7-yard line after the pick, all ASU needed to do was run the play clock down, make BYU use its last two timeouts and finish off the win. Even if BYU somehow still had time on the clock and stopped ASU from scoring a TD, the Sun Devils would still be able to kick a field goal to go up 31-23 and force BYU into a near impossible situation.

However, BYU was not only able to have that last chance, but pretty good field position at BYU’s 49-yard line due to ASU losing 42 total yards on backward runs and delay-of-game penalties.

“I was hoping for all kinds of stuff [like] how many penalties do they get, trying to get an unsportsmanlike conduct on the crowd and their student section,” said coach Kalani Sitake.

The large presence of Cougar fans in the stands hoping for a miracle were given one and were ready to silence the crowd of trash-talking ASU students … if the team would even be able to make it back on the field.

Photo by Eliza Snow/ Daily Universe

“It’s fine; it’s just annoying,” said BYU team captain Connor Pay. “We just wanted them to get off the field when the refs made the final decision.”

While it always takes awhile to get an official ruling on plays as important as this one, the celebrating ASU fans that stormed the field early caused an even bigger delay.

Getting them off the field proved to be an even bigger challenge as some fans still even lingered on the field around the end zone.

“I hate getting mad at the fans, they’re so excited to get the win. It’s two ranked teams that were playing,” Sitake said. “It’s okay. None of our guys are hurt, so there’s no big issue there. They eventually cleared and we were able to get that one play. ”

At the end of day, ASU fans got the last laugh as they waved goodbye to the BYU fans in the stadium. They were able to tear down the goal posts for a second time while BYU fans were left to hope that the season finale against Houston next week can go better.

For the Sun Devils, a game against its rivals, the Arizona Wildcats, will be coming up as they seek a berth into the Big 12 conference championship.