SEATTLE, — Arizona State played some of their best football of the season against Washington. The Sun Devils took a halftime lead over the top-five-ranked Huskies. They didn’t even give up an offensive touchdown to the best offense in college football. That wasn’t enough and Arizona State still lost to Washington, 15-7. So what went wrong?
Well, a lot of Arizona State fans and college football fans across the country are pointing to a controversial call, or no-call rather, in the fourth quarter.
Controversial non-call helps short Arizona State’s upset hopes against Washington
With 9:15 remaining in the game, Arizona State was trying to hold on to a 7-6 lead. The Sun Devils were knocking on the door, with a first-and-10 from Washington’s 19. There was still plenty of time, but a touchdown on this possession would be massive for Arizona State’s hopes of an upset.
Quarterback Trenton Bourguet took the snap, and looked to the left side of the field, towards wide receiver Troy Omiere. Bourguet attempted a fade in the endzone for Omiere, something Kenny Dillingham has dialed up a few times both tonight and this season.
Omiere was able to get two hands on the football thanks to an athletic reach, but it bounced off and the ball fell dead on the turf. Then yellow laundry floated onto the field, met with an array of boos from the Seattle crowd. For the moment it looked like it’d be a free 15 yards for Arizona State, putting them just four yards away from paydirt.
Except it wasn’t. The officials decided to pick up the flag. It was a clean display of defense. I’ll let you decide what you think.
This was not called a holding. pic.twitter.com/5T9h9oRNqz
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 22, 2023
I’m not a ref, but there’s a lot of contact there. The Fox announcers agreed.
But whatever, it’s one play. Bad calls happen all the time. After all, Arizona State still was in Washington’s red zone.
The aftermath
Two plays later Arizona State was facing a fourth-and-three on UW’s 12. Dillingham and the Sun Devils decided to go for it, fearing a field goal wouldn’t be enough to keep the best offense in college football at bay.
Bourguet looked to throw a long out pass, and it was caught… by Mishael Powell a junior defensiveback for Washington. Powell only had green grass in front of him. The Husky defender ran it back for an 89-yard touchdown.
Just like that Washington had their first lead of the day, one that would prove to be insurmountable for the Sun Devils.
Arizona State fell in heartbreaking fashion, 15-7.
“Somehow, someway, Washington is gonna come away with this,” Fox play-by-play announcer Jeff Levering said.
The Sun Devils move to 1-6 on the season and are still searching for their first win over an FBS team.
Social media’s reaction to the non-call
Not just Arizona State fans believed the refs missed a call for defensive holding on the fade route to Omiere. Several national accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, spoke their mind as well.
Here are a few social media reactions to the play.
Easily the worst flag pickup I have ever seen https://t.co/86BSAvMnm7
— Cole Topham (@crtopham_) October 22, 2023
This was a flag on Washington for pass interference then picked up by the refs deeming it “legal.” wtf is legal about this? Arizona St got screwed out of a first down pic.twitter.com/6mxu5GskVs
— CFBBlueprint (@CFBBluePrint) October 22, 2023
No flag on very obvious holding. Next play 89-yard pick-six. Game changing sequence
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) October 22, 2023
I’d LOVE to know what the reasoning is to pick up this flag
You throw the flag at this point because it’s obviously a holding/PI
There had to be something that changed in order for them to say no penalty on this play
— Barstool ASU (@tempebarstool) October 22, 2023
Look it's been 7 years since the Pac-12 has been in the Playoffs, refs knew what they were doing. https://t.co/iuLkofIhOb
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 22, 2023
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