Cougs Daily

Inside BYU's Game-Winning Drive Against Utah that Saved an Unbeaten Season

Casey Lundquist

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff against Utah
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff against Utah / BYU Photo
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With 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, no. 9 BYU needed a field goal to keep its perfect season alive. Trailing 21-19, Jake Retzlaff and the offense took the field for a drive that started on BYU's own nine yard-line. And it didn't get off to a great start.

After three consecutive incompletions, BYU was faced with 4th & 10. ESPN win probability gave BYU less than 1% chance to win the game at that point. Jake Retzlaff was sacked on fourth down and the game was presumably over - until a flag in the defensive secondary was thrown. A defensive holding penalty gave BYU life and a first down from its own 19 yard-line.

Even after the penalty on Utah, the BYU offense needed to drive at least 50 yards with less than two minutes remaining and no timeouts at their disposal.

On the next play, Retzlaff was nearly intercepted on a pass that was intended for Darius Lassiter. The ball eventually fell harmlessly to the turf and the Cougars escaped defeat once again.

Then the BYU offense found some rhythm.

82 seconds remaining

On 2nd & 10, Retzlaff dropped back to pass and found an open Chase Roberts 30 yards downfield. Roberts make an exceptional catch, getting his hands under a low throw and securing it for the big gain. The play was reviewed and the call on the field was upheld.

73 seconds remaining

BYU was still 15 yards away from field goal range after the catch from Chase Roberts. On the next play, Jake Retzlaff threw a perfectly-thrown ball to the boundary to Darius Lassiter for the 12-yard gain. Lassiter ran a great route and Retzlaff made one of his best throws of the night. The Retzlaff-Lassiter connection gave BYU a first down and put the Cougars in fringe field goal range. It also stopped the clock and allowed BYU's offense to reset.

67 seconds remaining

Against conventional wisdom, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick called a running play and it worked to perfection. Hinckley Ropati took a speed option pitch from Jake Retzlaff down to the Utah 25 yard-line. At that point, BYU was comfortably in Will Ferrin's field goal range.

60 seconds remaining

After the Ropati first down, BYU was flagged for an illegal procedure penalty that backed them up to the Utah 30 yard-line.

Despite losing five yards, BYU was content to run the ball and setup a potential game-winning field goal.

The Cougars ran the ball on both first down and second down, forcing Utah to use the last of their two timeouts.

55 seconds remaining

On third down, an LJ Martin run set BYU up with a field goal try from the far hash. BYU had no timeouts remaining, so the field goal unit ran onto the field as the clock was winding down. The ball was snapped with eight seconds remaining and Will Ferrin drilled the game-winning field goal from 44 yards out.

The catch from Chase Roberts and the kick from Will Ferrin will go down in BYU-Utah rivalry history. With the win, BYU improves to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play. The Cougars have to go 2-1 over their last three games to have a chance to play in the Big 12 championship game.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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