Big 12 Football: Baylor falls to Utah on controversial no-call on last play

The biggest Big 12 football game in the early slate in Week 2 on Sep. 9 saw the Baylor Bears and head coach Dave Aranda looking to prove a point against head coach Kyle Whittingham and the No. 12 ranked Utah Utes at home at McLane Stadium in Waco, TX.

Baylor came into this one looking for a bounce-back win after falling short of the Texas State Bobcats in one of the biggest upsets of Week 1 of the college football season.

Aranda and the Bears set the tone against the favored Utes in this matchup for three quarters. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sawyer Robertson managed the game well for Baylor’s offense in the first 45 minutes, completing over 60 percent of his passing attempts with no turnovers in place of the injured starting quarterback Blake Shapen.

Robertson also had a touchdown run in the second quarter that put Baylor ahead of Utah by seven points.

Big 12 football suffers another non-conference loss in Week 2 with Sawyer Robertson and Baylor falling short of Utah on a controversial no-call

But Robertson and the Baylor offense started stalling in the second half, including two costly fourth-quarter turnovers from the sophomore quarterback. Robertson tossed two picks in the fourth quarter, including one that went right to a Utah defender between the numbers while he came under pressure in the pocket.

Utah scored on an easy touchdown run the following drive to take a one-touchdown lead on the Bears with less than 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

That left the game in the hands of Robertson and the Baylor offense. And the Bears almost made Utah pay after Robertson hit a long pass to junior wide receiver Hal Presley.

Baylor was set up inside Utah’s 30-yard line with one second remaining with a chance to tie the game on one play. Robertson found Presley in the corner of the end zone on what looked like a catchable ball.

But the Utah defensive back, senior cornerback Miles Battle, was draped all over Presley in coverage. There was a lot of contact between Battle and Presley, but there was no call from the refs for pass interference.

Had the refs called pass interference on that play, Baylor would’ve been set up at the two-yard line with one untimed down to tie the game.

The no-call on this play ended the game with Utah hanging on to avoid the Baylor upset bid by a final score of 20-13.

Baylor moves to 0-2 (0-0 Big 12) on the season after falling short of Utah on the final play of this game. Meanwhile, Utah boasts a record of 2-0 (0-0 PAC-12) after two straight wins over Power Five teams (Baylor and the Florida Gators) to open the season.