One day after Utah athletic director Mark Harlan appeared to have lost his mind following the Utes’ 22-21 loss to BYU, the Big 12 Conference has responded with a public reprimand and a $40,000 fine.
Following Utah’s loss, which included a Utah hold on a 4th down of BYU’s eventual game-winning drive, the Utes athletic director took to the podium and said, Harlan made it clear he was not happy with the Big 12 refs, and said, “I’ve been an athletic director for 12 years. This game was absolutely stolen from us. We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game, someone else stole it from us. I’m very disappointed, I will talk to the commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”
Related: Three Takeaways From BYU’s 22-21 Win over Utah
While it’s not clear as to whether or not Yormark and Harlan spoke, the Big 12 commissioner heard him loud and clear, hit him with the public reprimand, the fine, and a statement saying Harlan’s comments “irresponsibly challenged the professionalism of our officials and integrity of the Big 12 Conference.”
The play in most question came on a 4th and long on the game-winning drive by BYU, where Utah was hit with a holding call, rather than a Utah sack on quarterback Jake Retzlaff, which would have ended the game and given Utah the upset victory.
Related: Utah AD Crushes Big 12, But Needs to Look in the Mirror
Utah was looking to hand BYU its first loss of the season, which would have thrown the Big 12 standings into even more chaos. But instead, the Utes rough season continues as they dropped to 4-5 overall and 1-5 on the season.
The Utes are back at it next week when they face Colorado on the road. The game will kick off at 11:00 a.m. CT on FOX.
