ESPN broadcasters Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek couldn't believe the wild ending in the Arizona State-BYU matchup. Photo Credit: ESPN Photo Credit: ESPN
College FootballESPNBy Reice Shipley on

With an NFL playing career under his belt and nearly a decade of experience as a broadcaster, ESPN color analyst Dusty Dvoracek has seen just about all there is that can possibly happen during a football game. But on Saturday while calling of the Arizona State-BYU, Dvoracek was utterly shocked at one of the more bizarre endings to a football game you will ever see.

For much of the game, Arizona State looked like it would cruise to a victory to secure a three-way tie at the top of the Big 12 standings. But BYU slowly crawled back into the game in the second half, cutting the deficit to a one-score game in the fourth quarter.

Still, Arizona State had plenty of chances to potentially put the game away down the stretch, with multiple red zone trips in the final five minutes of the game. But thee Sun Devils came up empty on both, partially due to the BYU defense and partially due to an incredibly questionable strategy of attempting to run the clock out instead of trying to score.

On the first red zone trip, Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt was stopped on a fourth-down rush attempt.

On the Sun Devils’ second red zone trip with 58 seconds remaining, Leavitt would run backwards on both second and third down in an attempt to take as much time off the clock as possible.

Then on fourth down, Leavitt would attempt to run out the entirety of the seven seconds remaining on the clock by throwing it as high as he could on fourth down.

And at first glance, it looked like he had done just that, leading to Arizona State fans storming the field in excitement.

The only problem, which ESPN play-by-play voice Dave Pasch was quick to realize, is that officials would need to look at the play to make sure that the entirety of time had gone off the clock.

“So they are going to look at this to make sure that the clock is at triple zeros. If not, BYU would have one play. They are going to have to clear the field here to make sure that the clock is at zero when that ball went out of bounds,” said Pasch.

“I actually thought he let it go a little bit early. I thought he’d wait,” added Dvoracek.

Fans would continue to pile onto the field convinced that the game was over. So much so that there was barely any fans actually left in the stands by the time a ruling was ultimately made.

After officials looked closer at the play, it was ultimately determined that there was one second remaining on the clock by the time that the ball landed, meaning that it was a turnover on downs with only play remaining for the BYU offense.

This led to a big problem. With one second left on the clock, there were thousands of excited ASU fans on the field. As a result, there would be about a 13-minute delay so that the security team on the field could help get fans off the field so that the final play of the game could happen.

Dvoracek was amazed at what he was seeing, questioning how this would happen and claiming that he has “never seen anything quite like this” while calling a football game.

“There was a weird situation earlier in this season at the end of a game with Arizona State,” said Dvoracek. “It was a wild ending to the game. And now a second wild ending. This one, having a ton on the line for Arizona State. Just a wild scene. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. They have all the fans backed up. Are they going to have to get them all the way off the field?”

If things couldn’t get any more crazy, the final play of the game was no sure thing for Arizona State. BYU would nearly convert on a Hail Mary attempt on the final play. Luckily for ASU fans, they would finally get the celebration they deserved when the pass was caught but ended up a few yards short of the end zone.

It is a much-needed win for Arizona State. But they undoubtedly made things more difficult for themselves with the decision to try and run out the clock. With three yards to gain on the goal line, it was very possible, even likely, that they could have gotten in the end zone and essentially ended the game if they had attempted to.

The ESPN studio team consisting of Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen, and Joey Galloway discussed the wild ending after the game, largely criticizing ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham for his late-game decision-making.

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About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

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