Under the lights at Idaho’s Kibbie Dome on Friday night, a college football miracle was cooked up on a massive refereeing mistake. Winless Idaho knocked off top-ranked FCS power Montana State 35-34, snapping their 19-game winning streak. But as the confetti settled, national rules analyst Terry McAulay pointed out that the game-winning play should have never happened in the first place, putting the game’s final result directly on the shoulders of the officiating crew.

To understand how big of a shocker this was, you have to look at the standings. Montana State came into Moscow as the reigning FCS national champion, sitting comfortably at No. 1 with a 19-game winning streak. Idaho, on the other hand, was struggling winless at 0-4. On paper, this was supposed to be a routine blowout for the Bobcats, making Idaho’s last-second steal one of the biggest shocks of the season.

Taking to social media right after the final whistle, veteran rules analyst and former NFL referee Terry McAulay made it clear that the crew botched the end-of-game procedure. “Not going to comment on the timeout aspect, but it seems the officials reset the clock to 01,” McAulay noted on X, explaining that under NCAA rules, on-field referees are strictly forbidden from manually putting time back on the clock in that specific moment. Per the rulebook, if less than three seconds remain on a running clock with no timeouts, the game automatically ends.

“They are not supposed to do so. Replay rules only allow the clock to be reset when the clock starts on the ready for play, and there are 3 or more seconds remaining and the offense has no timeouts. The reason is that the rule makers believe it is impossible for them to snap the ball from :02 or :01 before the clock hits :00 if the ready for play is correctly given and the clock starts accordingly. Onfield officials are instructed not to reset here and let it go to replay. Replay would have allowed the game to end at that point.”

The Vandals trailed 34-27 against Montana State in the final quarter. With less than a minute left at the Kibbie Dome, Idaho had 49 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. The Vandals QB Joshua Wood threw to TE Noah West-Baranco, who caught the ball 25 yards downfield but was tackled short of the first down. The clock on the screen went to 0:00 after this play. However, that’s when things got interesting. The on-field officiating crew decided to reset the clock to 1 second remaining.

McAulay isn’t questioning whether it was a first down or not; the question arises whether Idaho should have been given the extra time on the clock or not. If we dig deep in the NCAA logs, there is a specific rule on this which McAulay believes was surely violated by the officiating crew.

In the updated 2026 NCAA Football Instant Replay casebook, it clearly states under Section 3 of Article 6 that “If time expires in a half, and the clock would start on the referee’s signal after review, there must be at least 3 seconds remaining when the ball should have been declared dead to restore time to the clock. With 2 seconds or 1 second remaining on the clock, the half is over unless Team A has a timeout remaining.” 

The officials should have let the clock expire naturally to end the game rather than giving Idaho a controversial final opportunity. The Vandals utilised this lifeline to finally open their winning account with a 35-34 win. After the clock was reset to 1 second, Montana State head coach Brent Vigen called a timeout to set his defense.

However, it did not help much, as Vandals QB Josua Wood found an opening and threw a long pass straight to Ryan Jezioro, who scored a 25-yard touchdown. They were still down 34-33, but they had a two-point conversion play left, which again ended in a touchdown. Wood took it upon himself to end the night with a running touchdown and added the winning point to the scoreboard.

How did Montana State react to this loss?

This was not just a win for Idaho, but it was also their first time defeating a No. 1-ranked program. Montana State head coach Brent Vigen received no explanation for why Idaho was given an extra second.

“They said they looked at it… I hope there is a second left on the clock.”

If you see the winning touchdown by Jezioro, he was standing wide open as if he was waiting for the pass. Even after scrambling the defense, a key player was standing unmarked in the end zone.

“One of the WORST coaching decisions you will ever see. The Montana State coach LOST HIS TEAM THE GAME. Worst timeout EVER,” analyst Warren Sharp wrote. He wasn’t the only one to feel this way; even Jack Mac chimed in with very similar thoughts.

“The ending of Idaho-Montana State was out of a movie. Why did the coach call a timeout? What a lucky break for Idaho to get one more play. Insane,” Barstool Sports’ Jack Mac wrote.