Retzlaff and No. 9 BYU come alive late, Ferrin kicks winning field goal in 22-21 win over Utah
SALT LAKE CITY -- — Jake Retzlaff engineered two fourth quarter scoring drives and Will Ferrin kicked a 44-yard field with four seconds remaining to keep No. 9 BYU’s unbeaten season alive with a 22-21 win over Utah on Saturday night.The Cougars' final drive was extended on a defensive holding penalty on fourth down when the largest crowd in Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium history (54,383) thought the game was over.
“I was in the end zone, my back in the end zone after going down (on a sack), and it wasn’t a good feeling. But looking up and seeing that flag, we had new life,” Retzlaff said.
Utah AD Mark Harlan took the microphone in the Utah press area before the coaches and players appeared and blasted the officiating crew for their “disgusting performance".
“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” he said.
Retzlaff, who was 15 of 33 for 219 yards, passed for 30 yards to Chase Roberts and 12 yards to Darius Lassiter before Hinckley Ropati ran for 14 yards to get BYU (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) in position for Ferrin’s kick.
“That first first down pass was the catalyst. And so that is a key thing to get, and once we got it, however we get it, we started rolling,” Retzlaff said.
Trailing 21-10 at halftime, BYU coach Kilani Sitake told his team not to panic.
“We felt like we got Utah’s best shot, but we haven’t delivered ours yet,” Sitake said. “And then we shut them out in the second half.”
The Cougars remain the final undefeated team in the Big 12 and in prime position for a bid in the conference championship game.
“It’s cool to be a part of it ... and to be able to be in that role,” Ferrin said.
Retzlaff scored on a 1-yard sneak with 12:35 remaining to cap a nine play, 95-yard drive. But the 2-point conversion was intercepted by Cam Calhoun to keep Utah (4-5, 1-5) ahead 21-19.
Utah’s Brandon Rose, who was the third-string quarterback coming into the season, got his first career start after Cam Rising was lost for the season and Isaac Wilson has struggled.
Rose ran twice for first downs and then completed his first positive pass of the game for a 20-yard touchdown to Brant Kuithe to complete a six play, 64-yard drive early in the second quarter. Kuithe added a 1-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation with 5:31 left before halftime but later left the game with a season-ending leg injury.
Capitalizing on Rose’s interception in the third quarter, Will Ferrin made his second of three field goals.
Rose was 12 for 21 for 112 yards but just 4 of 11 for 25 yards in the second half.
Utah’s Zemaiah Vaughn stopped Roberts for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 swing pass, which led to Rose's 7-year touchdown pass to Micah Bernard to make it 21-10 at halftime.
Jakob Robinson's first-quarter interception was turned into a 23-yard field goal by Ferrin.
In the second quarter, BYU's Keelan Marion returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, his second of the season.
Utah had won nine in a row in the series before dropping the 2021 game 26-17 and now this one.
“Tough way to lose a ball game,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "Our players played hard. They did everything they could from start to finish. ... It’s unfortunate that it turned out the way that it did.”
Retzlaff said John Beck, who was the last BYU quarterback to win at Utah 18 years ago, texted him this week to wish him luck.
“I was just gonna try to go replicate what another number 12 did back in the day,” Retzlaff said. “Pandemonium!”
Utah: Bernard, who has been Utah’s lone offensive bright spot before the breakout second quarter performance, had 17 carries for 78 yards and passed 2,000 career rushing yards. Rose was hot in the second quarter but the offense sputtered after that. The Utes have lost five in a row but have not lost any by more than 13 points.
Utah plays at No. 21 Colorado next Saturday.
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