The college football season is officially winding up soon. But the controversy ain’t. Each week, with each game, some or the other issues are jolting up to make things more engaging for the gossip fans. This week is for Utah Utes. Utah vs BYU ended in a mess. The close 22-21 loss hit a massive blow on The Utes, not only on their ego but on their ethical intellect. Consequently, the haters didn’t get a cliche failure confession speech from the coach. Rather, a slew of penalties in the final moments, culminating in a heated debate, propelled athletic director Mark Harlan to take a furious call.

The game was all but lopsided. The Utes gave their level best to restrict the Cougars, but they just fell short, leading to a shattering loss after a lot of dramatic back and forth. Brandon Rose, the Utes’ starting quarterback, kick-started the game with a promising pace but fizzled out in the latter half. But it was not on him. Rather, it seems a combination of penalties and missed opportunities got the better of them in the latter half. Mark Harlan took the argument to an even more aggressive point, calling out the Big 12 commissioner without any honey-coating. Coming out of the podium with a pale face, Harlan faced the media crowd and said, ”This game was absolutely stolen from us.”

Everything was going well for the Utes defense as they almost held off the offensive storm of the Cougars until the final stretch of the second half. In a thrilling yet debatable end of the Holy War, Utes defensive tackle Junior Tafuna seemed to take the game in his court by sacking Jake Retzlaff on fourth down. But more twists awaited ahead. A holding penalty against Utah set aside the play, giving the Cougars the room to capitalize. Ferrin’s 44-yard field goal did the rest for BYU. ”We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed. I will talk to the commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight,” concluded a frustrated Harlan.

Eating up their fifth consecutive loss was bearable. But having 10 penalties for 90 yards seemed ridiculous to coach Whittingham. When asked about the pent-up penalty controversy, the coach brushed off the question, saying he wouldn’t like to get into that.

Utah will now look to rack up a win against the Colorado Buffs. But even apart from the penalty issues, they still have to work on their other loopholes to be safe against the top-tier SEC team on their home ground. On the other hand, despite the narrow win, the Cougars playoff chance leaves question.

Can the Cougars make it to the playoffs?

The win definitely gave the Cougars an important boost to keep fighting for the Big 12 title game, with their championship dream resting ahead of two more wins. The Big 12 currently only has one team in the CFP, which is No. 9 BYU. However, both Iowa State and Kansas State are in a better spot than the Cougars. So, in order to ensure that the Cougars can get into the Big 12 circle, both Iowa State and Kansas State must drop another game.

The path is long and tough. But taking more care of their defense will probably bring the best out of them. While the Cougars managed to remain undefeated, they were not flawless. During the game against Oklahoma, the entire defensive line looked a bit unorganized. defensive coordinator Jay Hill must have his boys prepared to tackle the toughest on the field in a harmonious effort.

However, when it comes to their latest controversy-driven victory, BYU coach Kalani Sitake took zero nonsense. ”I don’t know what else to say about it. That’s the game of football. You can’t hold people.”