Maybe the BYU Cougars being a religious school can pay some dividends.
asserted
being → pay → dividends
The Cougars have benefited from a very fortunate run of officiating in recent weeks.
asserted
Cougars → benefit → weeks
At home against the then-No. 2 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, BYU pulled off a stunning upset.
asserted
BYU → rank → upset
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier found tight end Walker Lyons with 1:47 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Cougars a 28-24 lead, putting Notre Dame's winning streak in jeopardy.
asserted
Bachmeier → find → jeopardy
The Irish drove down the field, converting a six-yard pass on fourth-and-5 to give themselves one last shot at the end zone from the 8-yard line with four seconds left.
asserted
Irish → drive → seconds
C.J. Carr's pass fell incomplete, and fans stormed the field.
asserted
fans → fall → field
Except, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the stadium game clock clearly read 0:01 as the ball hit the turf.
asserted
ball → notice → turf
And the Big 12 Conference acknowledged they were right, and that Notre Dame should have had time for one last play.
asserted
Dame → acknowledge → play
"Following the Big 12's review of the final play of Saturday's Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew," they explained in a statement.
asserted
they → follow → statement
"The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week's games.
asserted
Conference → conduct → games
Yes, BYU may still have stopped the Irish and won the game anyway, but it was a clear officiating mistake that benefited the Cougars.
uncertain
that → stop → Cougars
It happened again the next week.
asserted
It → happen → ?
On the road at UCF, BYU found themselves locked in a tight game late in the fourth quarter against what should have been an overmatched opponent.
asserted
what → find → quarter
With the game tied 24-24 and 11 seconds left, the Knights set up for a field goal attempt on third down.
asserted
Knights → tie → down
Kicker Will Stone's attempted was blocked without crossing the line of scrimmage, and Stone recovered it himself.
asserted
Stone → attempt → it
As he was tackled, his helmet came off, with the officials throwing a flag for a BYU facemask.
asserted
officials → tackle → facemask
Which they promptly picked up.
asserted
they → pick → Which
Not only that, they then incorrectly applied a 10-second runoff for the helmet coming off.
asserted
they → apply → helmet
As rules analysts explained, that runoff is only required when the helmet coming off is the reason for the clock stoppage.
asserted
helmet → explain → stoppage
But the clock also stopped because of a "legal kick down," per Terry McAulay, meaning that the runoff should not have been applied.
asserted
runoff → stop → McAulay
Instead of UCF having another opportunity at a game-winning field goal, the game went to overtime.
asserted
game → have → overtime
That said, the Cougars did wind up losing in double overtime anyway, thanks in part to some less-than-beneficial officiating.
asserted
Cougars → say → officiating
As Stone made a field goal to go up 34-31, BYU's Kendall Wall was flagged for roughing the kicker.
asserted
Wall → make → kicker
Instead of the Cougars needing just a field goal to tie the score, UCF converted the ensuing first-and-goal for a touchdown, making the two-point conversion as well.
asserted
UCF → need → conversion
BYU had four tries from the four-yard-line, but came up empty, and the Knights pulled off the upset.
asserted
Knights → have → upset
Still, there's a case to be made that the game may never have reached overtime in the first place, had the rules been correctly applied.
uncertain
rules → be → place
Well, fast-forward to BYU-Arizona State on Halloween, and it happened again.
asserted
it → forward → Halloween
Though at least this mistake wasn't in the closing seconds of the game.
asserted
mistake → close → game
In the first quarter in Provo, Bachmeier tried to run the ball in for a touchdown from the one-yard line, but fumbled immediately after the snap.
asserted
Bachmeier → try → snap
Sione Moa jumped on it, advancing it into the end zone for a touchdown.
asserted
Moa → jump → touchdown
Replay review confirmed that Bachmeier had indeed fumbled, and separately confirmed that Moa had scored.
asserted
Moa → confirm → ?
But the review team should never have allowed the touchdown to stand, because the whistle blew on the play to signal that Bachmeier had been ruled down.
asserted
Bachmeier → allow → play
Once that happened, the ball could not be advanced after a fumble.
uncertain
ball → happen → fumble
Inexplicably though, they awarded the Cougars a TD anyway.
asserted
they → award → TD
And now the Big 12 Conference has been forced to issue yet another statement that the officiating crew had made a mistake.
asserted
crew → force → mistake
"Replay was incorrect in awarding a score," the statement read.
asserted
statement → award → score
Sure, the Cougars may have punched it in from the two, but you never know in college football, and the call handed them a touchdown that should not have happened.
uncertain
that → punch → touchdown
"I was trying to argue that he does have the right to recover it post-whistle, but that's not a clear advancement, which means the ball should be at the three," he said.
asserted
he → try → three
"Obviously, that wasn't what happened.
asserted
what → happen → ?
Those officials don't have say in that.
asserted
officials → have → that
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
