A Grip on Sports: There is a massive trickle-down effect in play with college football this season, with WSU on the short-end last night

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Not sure that anyone knew college football’s new playoff race would be this big. Heck, late last night it took divine intervention for BYU to not only win the Holy War but for the Cougars to stay in the running for the Big 12’s automatic bid to the 12-team invitational.

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• Divine might not be the right word.

At least it wasn’t to Utah’s athletic director Mark Harlan. After watching his Utes seemingly upset the undefeated Cougars at home, sacking the quarterback on fourth down, leading by two deep in BYU territory with 95 seconds left, he and the rest of the packed stadium saw a yellow flag float onto the turf.

Defensive holding. A five-yard penalty. But, more importantly, a first down. Salvation. But only if BYU could cash in, covering about 80 yards without a timeout. It could. A 44-yard field goal in the waning seconds was good and the Cougars had escaped. Again. This time 22-21.  

Harlan decided to take a bullet for his football coach. For the Ute fans. For all of us who suffer through the weird, the odd, the unexplainable world that is college football every week.

“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” said Harlan, who has been at Utah for more than a decade. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone stole it from us. I’m very disappointed. I will talk to the commissioner. This is not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”

Why? Maybe it’s because, despite what analyst Brock Osweiler said while viewing a replay that showed contact that all of witnessed at least 100 times Saturday alone without a penalty called, a flag should not have been thrown. The Cougars should, by all rights, have lost. Their path to the promised land of the playoffs should have taken a left turn in Salt Lake City. But it didn’t.

And, ironically, it happened to a former Pac-12 school with a former Pac-12 referee – Kevin Mar – in charge. In the Big 12, one of the not-so-powerful two, trying desperately to stay relevant as the SEC and Big Ten devour the game.

Look, no one is saying a flag was thrown just to keep BYU’s playoff hopes in high gear. Well, maybe some are. Maybe even Harlan, but you would have to ask him. After all, a loss to a sub-.500 Utah team, followed by another loss in the Big 12’s title game would eliminate the Cougars from the playoffs. It’s that simple.

But if BYU enters that title game undefeated, loses and finishes 12-1, they will get an at-large berth. After all, no one will want to tick off their seven million devoted fans scattered throughout the country. If they were to boycott the event, it would put a dent in the possible TV ratings – and no one with skin in the game wants that.

The incidental contact – again, watch the video of the contact and tell me you didn’t see worse that wasn’t called all day – will become part of the rivalry’s lore. So will the flag. And the ensuing drive. The possible long-term implications for everyone involved? That was destined to be subtext. Until Harlan stepped to the podium.

• Funny thing. Part of the fallout from the holding call will land in Pullman. The Cougars who reside there don’t have the depth of backing BYU does. Nor do they have ESPN in their corner. Anyone connected to college football’s hierarchy these days. What they do have is an 8-1 football team that may just end up 11-1. And be left out of the first at-large pool in the 12-team extravaganza for a 12-1 BYU squad. Or a 10-2 Notre Dame. Or any of the handful of SEC teams with three or more losses.

The flag stays in the official’s belt and Washington State’s playoff chances rise some. It comes out and they fall. It’s college football’s new butterfly effect.

• We will be watching and writing about Gonzaga’s ESPN2 broadcast from Stanford today. The women’s game is part of a tripleheader on the ESPN’s family of networks, one that includes top-ranked South Carolina playing No. 9 North Carolina State at the same time on ESPN and No. 16 Virginia Tech visiting the Caitlin Clark-less Iowa Hawkeyes (2:30, ESPN2).

Despite the Cardinal being unranked, the Bulldogs have their work cut out for them if they want to make it two consecutive seasons with a win against the perennial power.

The biggest challenge, other than Stanford’s roster of course? The school is putting former coach Tara VanDeveer’s name on the home court. Stars of yesteryear will be in attendance, as will thousands of rabid fans. All to honor the recently retired winningest coach in women’s history. Heck, successor Kate Paye even said “I think the best way that we can honor her is to play extremely hard, extremely well on Sunday.”

At least no one has to worry about a late yellow flag fluttering in.

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WSU: The Cougars took care of business last night, even covering the 20.5-point spread. By a half-point. The 49-28 win wasn’t impressive nor all that exciting – except some of the weird plays and calls that pockmarked the action – but it was, most importantly, their eighth of the season. An 11-1 regular season is still in play. Greg Woods took care of the game analysis and, with help from the folks in the office, the recap with highlights. … Tyler Tjomsland has the photo report. … We watched The CW broadcast and put together a TV Take. … We can also pass along coverage about Utah State. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, Jon Wilner has his Saturday Night Five column in the Mercury News. He focused on the outcome of the Holy War. … So did John Canzano, who was in Salt Lake City last night. … There were winners and losers. … Oregon State changed quarterbacks this week. Didn’t help. The Beavers’ losing streak reached four games with a 24-13 home loss to San Jose State. The Spartans became bowl eligible with the win. … Washington changed quarterbacks in the second half. Started looking to the future with freshman Demond Williams Jr. It didn’t help either. No. 6 Penn State rolled 35-6 after leading 28-0 at the half. The Huskies aren’t ready to compete with the Big Ten’s best. … Maryland was out of its time zone. And its element as No. 1 Oregon rolled to a 39-18 win over the Terps in a game that included two big guy touchdowns for the Ducks. … It wasn’t easy but Colorado’s substance overcame any loss of style points as the Buffs went into Lubbock and took down Texas Tech 41-27. … We linked every Holy War story we could find above. … What’s this? UCLA not only topped Iowa on Friday night but outmuscled the Hawkeyes? … Even without its best running back Arizona State continued its march through the Big 12, topping UCF 35-31. … Will Oklahoma State become Arizona’s out-of-state conference rival? … In the Mountain West, Colorado State gave a player a second chance. It paid off. … There was a huge upset Saturday, with 2-7 Air Force topping visiting Fresno State. … There is no love lost between Boise State and Nevada. … UNLV won the game 29-27 and took home the trophy that it shares with Hawaii. … The New Mexico defense is improving. … Wyoming, under pressure from outside the university, forfeited another volleyball match with San Jose State. The Spartans did play at San Diego State on Saturday, as protesters were in attendance for the Aztecs’ win. … In basketball news, Washington’s men lost at Nevada.

Gonzaga: Did you notice eighth-ranked Baylor bounced back with a 72-67 at No. 16 Arkansas on Saturday? We did. If sixth-ranked GU takes care of business today against 2-0 Arizona State in the Kennel, they should move up at least one or two spots in the polls. Theo Lawson has a preview of the 2 p.m. (ESPN) game as well as a look at the key matchup. … Jim Meehan has a Q&A with an ASU beat writer. … Greg Lee has a preview of the women’s game.

EWU: It’s been a tough football season for the Eagles. But it’s been even tougher for Northern Colorado, which has won just once. The Bears played the role of movable object Saturday, yielding 339 yards on an Eastern-record 66 rushing attempts as the Eagles rolled 43-15 in Greeley. Dan Thompson has the game coverage. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, fourth-ranked UC Davis went into Missoula and pounded No. 7 Montana 30-14. … No. 2 Montana State had no trouble with Sacramento State, winning 49-7. … Northern Arizona continued its winning streak with a 31-14 win at Cal Poly. … Idaho State had not won at Weber State since 1984. The Bengals ended that streak yesterday. … In basketball news, Montana State lost to Wichita State.

Idaho: Portland State has improved lately, as the ninth-ranked Vandals learned up close Saturday in Hillsboro. It took a 212-yard rushing day from Deshaun Buchanan and a late score for UI to put the Vikings away 39-30. Colton Clark has the game story.

Whitworth: As one could have predicted before the season began – we did – the Northwest Conference football title will come down to next weekend’s game in the Pine Bowl. The undefeated Pirates, ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III against the undefeated-in-conference-play and No. 19 Linfield Wildcats. Both won Saturday, with Whitworth blanking George Fox 31-0 on the road.

Preps: We start with the State cross country meets from Pasco. Greg Lee starts with the boys races, focusing on Lewis and Clark’s boys winning the 4A crown. Then Greg also covers the girls, leading off with two St. George’s runners – Regan Thomas and Josie McLaughlin – going 1-2 in the 2B race. … Saturday was also football day. Dave Nichols was at Gonzaga Prep for the Bullpups’ 40-18 win over Woodinville in 4A play. Dave also put together a roundup of the rest of the football action as well as one on the playoffs in other sports.

Velocity: Well, this is a surprise. The expansion Velocity, the first USL League One expansion team to win a playoff match won another Saturday. They knocked out No. 3 seed Forward Madison FC 5-4 in penalty kicks. Spokane will play for the league title at top-seeded Union Omaha next weekend.

Zephyr: Spokane’s winter break in warm climes began Saturday with a scoreless draw vs. the Carolina Ascent in Charlotte, N.C.

Reign: Can Seattle return to the top ranks of the NWSL?

Kraken: Trick shots? Not yet.

Sounders: Lionel Messi won’t be playing for an MLS title. His Miami squad, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, was eliminated in the first round.

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• Have a great Sunday. I intend to. Even without a Seahawk game to watch. Until later …