Saturday’s version of the “Holy Struggle” rivalry between Utah and BYU ended with some slight controversy, one thing the previous athletic director took main concern with publicly.
Mark Harlan spoke at a postgame information convention and ripped into the officers for a holding penalty on a play that might’ve been a fourth down sack and sure ended the sport with Utah up 21-19.
As an alternative, the No. 9 Cougars put collectively an epic 1:29 drive down the sector for the game-winning subject aim to remain undefeated on the yr.
“This sport was completely stolen from us,” Harlan mentioned. “We received this sport, another person stole it from us.”
He went on to say he was “disgusted with” the Huge 12 officers’ “professionalism,” prompting a scathing response from the convention on Sunday.
“[Harlan’s] feedback irresponsibly challenged the professionalism of our officers and the integrity of the Huge 12 Convention,” commissioner Brett Yormark mentioned partly in a press release. “There’s a proper means and a incorrect technique to voice issues. Sadly, Mark selected the incorrect means.”
The official reprimand was adopted by a stiff $40,000 tremendous charged to Harlan who mentioned he could be talking with Yormark.
Harlan’s feedback seem like the boiling over of frustration stemming from Utah’s disappointing season to this point. The Utes (4-5) have been picked to win the Huge 12 as a part of their inaugural yr within the preseason media ballot.
Since then, it is gone 1-5 in convention play and has began three totally different quarterbacks.
The Huge 12 has a historical past of punishing its members to curb criticism, dropping a complete of $75,000 in fines since 2014 (not together with Harlan), per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
