End of Arizona State game delayed 13 minutes in wild finish
The end of the Arizona State-BYU game at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday was one of the wildest ones of the season and featured a delay lasting over 10 minutes.
The Sun Devils thought they had won the game when quarterback Sam Leavitt threw the ball away on 4th-and-goal. The fans stormed the field, celebrated, and even brought down the goal posts.
Arizona State fans prematurely rushed the field and took down the goal post with one second left in the game 😬 pic.twitter.com/yRENXDqcVb
— ESPN (@espn) November 24, 2024
There was just one minor problem: the game hadn’t ended on that play.
The officials reviewed the play and determined there was still a second left on the clock when Leavitt’s pass went out of bounds. ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham went nuts on the officials, and all the fans had to be cleared off the field. The whole process took 13 minutes — all for BYU to have one final play.
And the Cougars actually completed their Hail Mary attempt, though it came up short of the end zone.
AFTER STORMING THE FIELD TOO EARLY, ASU BARELY SURVIVES AS BYU’S HAIL MARY IS CAUGHT SHORT OF THE END ZONE. 🔱
SUN DEVILS WIN AND IMPROVE TO 9-2 pic.twitter.com/87XSLXM5j9
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) November 24, 2024
ASU was lucky to get out of there with a win given how badly they butchered the clock situation. Not only that, but they were lucky to avoid penalties for intentional grounding and delay of game.