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Controversial call deflates Arizona State against Washington

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1 year ago

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Kenny Dillingham against Colorado. Arizona State football lost to Washington tonight thanks to a controversial call.
H/T Anthony Chiu of Sun Devil Daily

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.

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.

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Brendon Pricco attends the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State. He's the managing editor for Sun Devil Daily. Brendon also is a contributor to Spartan Shadows and Gator Digest.

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