Advertisement

BYU gets field goal before halftime after second added to clock following spike attempt

BYU spike attempt (ESPN)
BYU spike attempt (ESPN)

BYU entered halftime trailing West Virginia 21-13 because a review of a spike attempt added a second back to the clock.

Attempting to get a touchdown or a field goal before half without any timeouts, BYU wide receiver Michael Juergens didn’t go out of bounds after catching a pass from quarterback Taysom Hill. The mental error meant BYU had to hurry up to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball before the second quarter expired.

It was really close. Officials initially ruled Hill’s spike didn’t happen in time. But after a review, a second was added to the clock. It was the right call, based off the ESPN replay captured above.

The second allowed the Cougars to bring on the field goal team before the half expired to make the game 21-13.

[Check out Dr. Saturday on Tumblr for entertaining things you won’t see on the blog]

The ball was snapped to Hill with two seconds on the clock, leading to some potential confusion regarding an NCAA rule change in 2013. The rule says that a spike play can only be attempted with at least three seconds on the clock if the clock is stopped before the play and starts on the referee’s signal.

NCAA Rule Book
NCAA Rule Book

The rule doesn’t apply because the clock wasn’t ever stopped after Juergens’ catch. Since he stayed in bounds the clock kept rolling. The call on the field was correct.

[Visit Dr. Saturday on Facebook for stories you might have missed and chat with the writers]

Popular college football video on Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!