Some fans threw garbage on the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium. One Utah player picked it up

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham watches players at a time out at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Emotions were high following BYU’s 22-21 win over Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

After a defensive holding call on Ute cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn negated a fourth-down sack of Cougar quarterback Jake Retzlaff with 1:29 left in the game and gave BYU new life, the Cougars marched down the field and Will Ferrin nailed a 44-yard field goal to seal a comeback victory and keep BYU perfect.

“Love our guys, love our players, love coaching this team. We’ve got a lot of high-character players on this football team and they’ve just continued to battle every week.”

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

When the clock hit zero, the emotion spilled out of Utah’s leaders. Athletic director Mark Harlan went on the field to give the referees a piece of his mind, and coach Kyle Whittingham did as well.

Some fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium threw water bottles and other trash onto the field at the conclusion of the game, and as Utah trudged off the field after a majorly disappointing loss for them, one player’s actions stood out.

Tight end Landen King hasn’t had the season that he thought he would after emerging for the Utes last season. He still hasn’t caught a pass this season, and on Saturday, appeared to run a different route than quarterback Brandon Rose was expecting, leading to an interception.

“The one interception he had in the second half was not (Rose’s) error, it was a route structure error. Had one of the receivers run the incorrect route,” Whittingham said.

As BYU’s players and fans celebrated, it would have been completely understandable for King to head to the locker room right after the game. Despite the disappointing ending, when some fans at…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fans-threw-garbage-field-rice-001146385.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-11-12 00:11:46

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