First, you make it sound like BYU was so confident that they knew they would block PAT but then Jorgensen said they were spent. It was a lucky play and BYU was on the receiving end of it. Yes, it was a win for the Y but can BYU fans stop blaming everything on the refs even during wins. Several times during the KSL broadcast I had to hear the broadcasters scream about holding and other infractions while plays were still going on....Paul James where are you? I had to hear KSL go on and on about the PAC10 refs until they enforced a pretty stupid rule. Good teams wins by luck sometimes and BYU is a good team and a win is a win but DH stop making it sound like the Cougs knew they were going to block it.

It unfortunate that rules state that throwing the ball in the air is considered a "foul", but a rule is a rule.

I wish BYU had won by stopping the touchdown on any number of plays, and they had many chances on that final drive.

Also, consider if Unga hadn't fumbled at the 1 yard line, BYU would have had a lead that Washington wouldn't be able to come back from.

The point is, a game isn't won or lost on one controversial call.

The game was in fact one on a blocked extra point.

Would the dynamics have been different without the penalty? Perhaps, but, if BYU had won in Overtime (assuming the extra point was hit) there wouldn't be such a national uproar.

I do agree with the commentators on ESPN, the rule needs to be changed, I don't honestly believe the spirit of the rule was broken, just the letter.

We shouldn't let the controversy around a penalty take away from the fact that BYU won based on a blocked extra point, not due to an ill advised/poorly called penalty.

BYU must win against UCLA, this win will give BYU the emotional catapult they will need.

The Cougars were very fortunate that the penalty was called, otherwise Locker runs the two point conversion and it's all over.

Congrats on a squeaker of a win over a team that will probably only see 2 more victories.
And a warm welcome to the "can win a non-conf road game club".
It took a while, but we all knew you could do it.

Warmest regards,
Jimmy

As a BYU fan, I too, felt that the 'unsportsmanlike conduct' penalty at the end was unfair to the Huskies. It's a ridiculous rule.

However, I have always maintained that one play does not win or lose a game. The Huskies cannot blame one poor call on their loss; nor can the Cougars feel too smug about their win because of one blocked kick. Games are won or lost because of many factors created during the entire four quarters.

Exciting game and nice win, but a last-second one point win over one of the worst teams in the PAC10 means that we are not the 15th best team in the country. (Look at East Carolina). BYU should drop in the rankings after this one.

Great article. This win showed a lot of character and heart from BYU. There were so many positives to take away from this game. I am proud of the BYU players. However, there are definitely some concerns that I have in watching the game:

1.Defensive inconsistencies; and
2.Special Teams (esp., the kicking and punting)

Obviously our defense struggled to contain the QB and gave up huge plays (e.g., 3rd and 23, 4th and 10 etc...)when it really mattered. Lost in the thrill and excitement of the win, however, was our kicking and punting struggles. I thought Sorenson had a booming leg that could kick the ball into the end zone almost every time on kickoffs. Surprisingly, that did not happen once against Washington. Is he injured? Was it playing at sea level? Santiago also has obviously struggled averaging 27.5 yards per punt with a long of 31 yards. What is going on?

Field position may not seem that important, but with a young defense, it may prove to be BYU's downfall against a more quality opponent. Hopefully this was just a fluke and not a growing trend. Either way, it needs to be addressed.

I am in Florida and surprisingly the BYU game was rebroadcast at Midnight here so I watched it. I had to endure ESPN for a couple of hours after the came complaining about the call. What they failed to point out was that it was a PAC-10 officiating crew, not an MWC crew. This wasn't a make up call or anything. Finally, it did not cost them the game. I have seen plenty of last minute 35+ field goals in waning seconds of a game to know that it isn't only makeable but more often than not, it doesn't get blocked. BYU made a tremendous play to win and should be absolutely credited for the effort. Every pundit complaining about the "no-call" which wasn't a judgment call like the missed holdings plays (5 on the final drive by my count). Give BYU the credit they deserve in making an incredible play. Ala Urban Meyer, "Good teams create their own luck."

Not true: "nonconference road win streak (0-9 before Saturday),"

Both Vegas bowl wins (Oregon and UCLA) were nonconference and road wins.

I thought I saw Willingham put up two fingers before the flag was thrown. Dumb rule, yet still poor judgement by the refs.

It's not just the Washington fans that are complaining about this call. ESPN radio and TV people are pretty outraged about the call as well. Someone here in Indiana (w/ no connection to Utah, UW, or BYU) mentioned it to me last night and was pretty angry too. Locker didn't "throw the ball into the lights" as Harmon put it (Harmon has such a man-crush on the cougs, it's amusing). He was excited to score what was (nearly) the tying touchdown for a team that has really struggled over the past few years. He was extremely classy when interviewed about it. I would have been very upset. Props to the line for getting through to block the kick, but you have to agree the ridiculous 15 yard penalty put a lot more pressure on the kicker and affected the trajectory of the kick. Congrats on a win (albeit to a team that has lost 11 of 13), but you have to admit that's kind of a cheap way to win, as most objective people would agree.

Reality is Locker did throw the ball "into the lights", he threw the ball very high into the air. While I agree with the sentiment that it shouldn't be in the rule-books, it is. Get over it, game won on blocked kick.

Bomar is a day dreamer. If Locker... He had four quarters to do it and the last 2 seconds would save him, is this your dream? Let's play if. If Unga had not make his only mistake by dropping the ball the game would be out of reach way sooner.

By the way the rule would be applied for both teams and they knew it - that is a fair rule.

I can't believe all the Harmon bashing from BYU fans. If you don't like his style just swallow it and if nothing else try basking in a huge PAC-10 road win. The penalty should not detract from the blocked single in any way. It was a great play so give the D their props. We are way too guilty as BYU fans at looking at the negative; just give it a rest. Throwing the ball into the lights is not inaccurate. The tossed ball went sky-ward plain and simple. Great win Cougars. Bring on UCLA.

It was still a straight ahead, chip-shot field goal. And the kicker didn't send it straight into the line. No, BYU shoved right through the line and blocked it. Did I mention we racked up nearly 500 yards of offense?

I agree that the rule is stupid and that the referee could have easily let it go and I for one never would have thought about Locker's celebration as excessive. However, it was called and certainly within the written rules. Locker clearly threw the ball in the air at least 15 to 20 feet. My real issue with all this is that the talking heads at ESPN refuse to give any credit to BYU for making the play after the fortunate call. Mark May is so biased that he keeps saying that Locker merely flipped the ball over his shoulder. I wish that ESPN and their representatives would at least be factual. The way this game is being reported is as if WAshington would have won the game if not for the call. The game would have gone to overtime and who knows what would have happened. I listened to Coach Willingham's interview and he stated that they would have kicked the pat regardless of the call, so those stating that Locker would have simply run the ball in for 2 and the game are merely stating their own desires and not reality.

B Williams and all others: How about the game in it's entirety? Why didn't WU just stop the Cougars from scoring one of their earlier touchdowns? Put the skids on Harvey Unga from shredding their D-line? Make one extra TD of their own? Or, maybe they should have recruited better in the off-season? Or, are they ill-coached as some in Washington already suspect? No, it wasn't a cheap win, it's FOOTBALL.

Several commentators before the game mentioned that
the Pac 10 schools will only use their officials in
these games. They will not use a split crew or a
crew from a non MWC or Pac 10 conference. Why are
they now complaining about the officiating. It was
their people who called the penalty according to the
rules. Sad that a fantastic game, well played by both teams has now been tarnished. Another sad day for
sports

Who was doing the KO's. Did JS make the trip? Or can he only kick in the mountains. Those were terrible KO's, way too short.

Dick, this has got to be your worst article ever...

What I see here is two camps: those with BYU envy and the haters. I love the fact that everyone and their mother is talking about this game. Even bad publicity is good publicity.

How is it a "cheap" win???? BYU outplayed these guys in every statistical category. Locker is a stud, and will run over a ton of teams in his career. BYU had the guts and determination to pull this one out.

Locker did chuck the ball into the lights. Watch the replay.

Washington ends up with three penalties all game? Two of which were the one on Locker then the offsides on the on sides kick at the end. I was screaming my head off on all the holding penalties that were non-calls. Look at the picture of Jorgensen during the block. That was the last of the non-call holds Washington didn't get called for.

What makes you think the BYU players didn't have a feeling that they were gonna block it?? Were you there on the sideline with them?

Again...enough already with the doubters and the monday morning quarterbacks. Give some credit where credit is due. BYU earned this one. Great job Cougs!

Shock and exhaustion? Wouldn't have been that way had the coaches put together a better defensive game plan. The players during the week were touting how Locker was the real deal, in spite of their bad loss the previous week. With Locker getting hit so much in that game, you'd think our coaches would have learned something from that. No, we played defense like he wasn't anything special. Even in the second half when we had already seen what he could do to us. No half-time adjustment made. Something's amiss here.

Anybody that watches any amount of college football has learned that anybody can win on any given day. Washington played a great game no Turn Overs, play after play at the right time. This was a motivated, driven team scrapping for a win, and BYU in spite of mistakes hung in and won. That was a good win for BYU don't Knock it. BYU will have their share of impressive wins this season don't worry. Just ask USC, Florida, Ohio State, Michigan, and Texas, if a road win against a supposed "bad" team is a good win even if you "barely" pull it off. They have all been there.

Two things:

1) To RockOn: Bowl games are not "road" games. Road games are when you play on the other team's home field.

2) To B Williams: Locker did throw the ball high in the air. Unfortunately, no replay shows the entire flight of the ball. But one replay does show the ball going straight up into the air and out of view. Another replay shows Locker toss the ball and then 2 "Mississippis" later then ball hits him on its way down.

It is a stupid rule but the refs (more than one ref threw a flag on the play) simply could not ignore a ball thrown that high. Locker himself admitted he screwed up.

If Washington or ESPN don't like the call by the PAC 10 officials, maybe they should cry on Bob Stoops' shoulder about it. They wouldn't get a second of sympathy from Oklahoma after their loss to Oregon in 2006

PAC 10 refs have been homers for years, so now ONE TIME they killed their own team. Too bad, so sad!

Stoops and Oklahoma probably think this makes up for Oregon's win.

What an amazing finish! Did the refs make the right call? Sounds like they didn't have a choice. Is it a tough way to end a game? Who knows? -- After all, it didn't end the game! Washington still had a chance to tie it up with a kick from the 18. BYU won it in spectacular fashion! Nice game Cougs. Nice article Harmon.

First to Rockon - The two vegas bowl wins were on a neutral field so they don't count as actual road wins And before you come back on that, I'm not the only one saying it, but so are all the sports commentators, your own team, etc But it's mute now... since you knocked off the mighty washington cougars...though I bet you were sweating it out.

Looks like both teams slayed some old demons yesterday. Byu won an out of conference road game and utah beat down an inferior team after a big win.

Both teams 2-0 ...so for now the fun continues

Any other season and I would be ecstatic about breaking our out of conference road woes not matter how it ended. But this is a season in which we are prefectly situated for a BCS bowl win. I'm afraid we can't just squeeze out last second wins against this schedule to meet that goal. We never should have allowed the game to even come to this call. Both Hall's int and Unga's goal-line fumble prevented what should have been a 3-touchdown win. I hate to be negative but we need to dominate our schedule if we want a truly special season. The national naysayers are already saying we stole that game and that teams like Utah, Eastern Carolina, Fresno, BSU and Tulsa may be more BCS bowl worthy at this point. It is a long season but at this point we are not being viewed as a BCS bowl team. We need to really dominate UCLA to turn that perception around. Congrats on a game in which from start to finish we were the better team. But it's a shame that we allowed it to be so close that this call is now the focus.

Congrats on a great win and blocked PAT effort Cougs!! But let's all be completely honest about that call - it stunk. Imagine if the roles were reversed and an all-PAC 10 officiating crew flagged Hall on a game winning touchdown celebration? Cougar fans would have literally twisted themselves into knots shouting about conference and even religious bias. It was a bad call period and it hurts the perception of our win on a national level. Let's also be honest about the fact that if we think we deserve a BCS bowl we never should have let the game be that close at the end. How do we remedy the negative perception from this game - beat UCLA by at least 2 tds and hopefully Washington either beats Oklahoma or plays them very close.

What if it was reversed and BYU had been called for the unsportsmanlike penalty at the end?

I'll tell you one thing: it wouldn't have been a lead in on ESPN or the number one play on gameday like it was yesterday. I doubt there would have been the uproar.

Also...if I have to hear another PAC10 or FSN commentator preach the holy church of the PAC10 I'm gonna puke.

At least they could have pronounced Pitta "Pit-a" instead of "Pea-ta".

And if some of you want to talk about class, how about how gracious and classy the Cougars were in victory? They had nothing to say except good things about the Huskies.

Great job Cougars! Keep up the hard work!

First off...I'm glad that BYU pulled this one out...BUT...

It should never have been that close to begin with. Major adjustments need to be made to our:

1. Kicking game
2. Defensive schemes
3. Hall needs to run the ball!

Otherwise, great win. I agree with "Enough Already" at 0935...would've been my post word for word.

I'll be puking my guts out on Friday night and unable to sleep for I am now officially nervous of UCLA...even at home.

I was sitting in the end zone and locker flung that ball very high into the air, it took several seconds for the thing to come back down. The washington fans had so much more class and respect for byu program than any other fans within the mwc. In fact I talked with many husky fans after the game who said that was the best game UWUB has played in a long time and that they hope byu goes to a bcs bowl. I was impressed with the passion and great sportsmanship of the Washington fans.

WA final TD was a gift. I was at the game and even the WU commentators were amazed at the number of no-calls for holding on the WA offensive. Especially the tackle on Jorgensen right in front of the ref on the 3rd and 23 on the last drive. To quote the KOMO commentator, "I don't know how he didn't see that." It should have been 10 yards from the spot or 3rd and 43. In this case the Referee giveth, the referee taketh away. And yes, Locker's totally spontaneous celebration toss went 20 feet in the air.

BYU's been hurt in the past with many celebration calls. I'm glad they've cleaned up their act on that one, because I can't remember a single penalty for celebration during the Bronco Mendenhall era. IT IS A PENALTY--and it's a 15-yarder. The call was correct in this situation, because Locker clearly violated the exact wording of the rule, and it is not discretionary depending on the situation. Don't mix your dislike for the rule with whether the call was correct. The reality, as pointed out in Dick Harmon's blog, is that the BYU offense performed well enough to beat a PAC-10 team on their home field. It is the first time that BYU has beaten the Huskies in Seattle. And, it is the first time in Bronco's tenure as head coach that BYU has beaten a team from a BCS conference on the road. Ignore the call, it didn't beat the Huskies--they lost the game, fair and square.

re: Honest about the call.

Afraid that you nailed the fact this controversy has somehow already tainted the national perception of an otherwise great win.

The fact remains that our defense is far less talented than last years team and if adjustments are not made or a Kehl-type leader step up and take charge, we are in for a long disappointing season.

If Locker could run almost at will against us, think what BJ may be able to do. And imagine how Norm Chow is licking his chops with two full weeks to prepare for us-waiting to exploit the holes and our defense and a scary propensity to give up big plays. And even more scary is the tendency to give up big plays for first down on 3rd and 4th and long.

After their big-time win over # 8 West Virgina, ECU has the easiest path of all the non-BCS teams to a BCS berth this year. Followed by a good Fresno team.

Without a tighened up defense, we can forget our dream for perfection and busting the BCS.

Hopefully, they will come up big vs UCLA (and coach Chow) Saturday in Provo.

Go Cougs!!

The other issues aside, can I just ask how many of you commentators play on the team? Or maybe you are coaches? If not, what in the world gives you the right to refer to BYU's football team as "we" or "us" as though you are a part of it? Get over it. You are fans, and that is nice, but the coaches and players are the only ones who have the right to use the first-person pronoun when talking about the team.

Objective... I'm afraid there has been an excessive celebration penalty on BYU. You might not have heard about it all night long on Sportscenter but after blocking the kick BYU was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

If you think back after Washington scored the last touchdown Willingham put his hand in the air and signaled one, not two. Go ahead and rewind it and look. Therefore Locker would not have run in a two point play or anyone else. But the point really is BYU blocked the extra point they would have done it anywhere on the field with or without the field. Many people are focusing on the penalty, the penalty had nothing to do with it. Is BYU the only team that struggles to win on the road in the nation?? Ohio State barely won yesterday at home against a no name team. What is everyone's problem.

Let's Be Honest...how arrogant to write that we aren't being honest if we disagree with you. Wow, can't we have a sincere disagreement without being accused of lying? The rule should be taken out but until it is, it would be breaking the rules not to call it.

US...you're being a little silly aren't you? I went to BYU so I was a Cougar but face it, every team's fans say that. It's a community thing.

His comments about "hostile referees" is childish.

BYU should be flagged for Excessive Whining.

BYU fans are the biggest whiners in the universe, so what is Harmon's point about UW fans being upset?

Technically, Locker broke the rule. Should the refs have called it? No. Just like most holds, bumps, and tugs go flagless, this one should have, too.

I've got a feeling UCLA is going to work BYU over. I can't wait to hear the whining from Provo.

re[Bomer====Locker runs for a two point score, is hit, fumbles and recovred by BYU. Game over. Go BLUE

The PAC-10 Officials are biased toward the PAC-10. The PAC-10 is one of the few conferences that uses its own officials during non-conference road games. The PAC-10 officials have a horrible reputation. Several years ago, the entire college football nation watched as the PAC-10 officials stole a game from Oklahoma and gave it to Oregon during a contest in Eugene.

Even the announcers from the UW station on XM radio were commenting on the holding by UW during the last drive and the lack of calls.

Is there any wonder why people love to hate BYU and their holier-than-thou attitudes when their off-campus pr person (Dick Harmon) uses headlines like this one? "Rise and doubt not. . ." What? Has kind of a Book of Mormon sound to it, eh? Leave religion where it belongs, Dick. BYU is a good football team, but the analogies of stripling warriors and such should stay in church and not the gridiron.

they were as the PAC-10 demands that their refs do the officiating in all non-conference games which has got to stop. i noticed one of the pictures captures a UW offensive lineman holding Jurgensen. CLASSIC!!! this happened all game long and no holding was ever called on UW. clips in the back time after time on UW as well. the celebration penalty fortunately was a "have to" call as the ref all but admitted they didn't call anything else on UW. the blocked PAT was going to happen. you could feel it. the cougs practice blocks. it was a great game. the game was closer on the scoreboard than on paper for sure. Locker has a lot to learn. he will be back with more maturity. Hall schooled him though. as far as BYU dropping in polls it just goes to show how stupid the BSC is. they play by their own rules made up as they go. Utah should have moved up with the same argument for BYU dropping. it's just about the BSC promoting themselves and NOT NCAA football and making sure BYU and UTah do NOT qualify for a BSC championship game.

Who is whining in Provo? We won! If UCLA does defeat us next week, few if any will whine, we will just move on to the next game.

OK BYU, Here's your win and I hope you choke on it.
Everyone watching the game saw BYU throw the flag on Locker just to win the game...never mind the exceptional effort and fine coaching that resulted in a blocked kick, anyboby can do that, even App State in the BIG house.

@ "US",

We say "us" and "we" because we are part of the game. We motivate and encourage the players to push themselves to their highest level. The players draw energy from us when they are exhausted. They call us the 12th man on the field. The game is played for the fans. Otherwise, it would just be another practice.

I love the cougs, but after watching the game against Wash. I really doubt their ability to go undefeated, especially after the poor punting performance. Santiago stunk it up last year and is right on track to do it again this year.

Good game played by two good teams

We're bustin' the BCS baby. Next victim - UCLA Bruins. Then on to the BCS Championship Bowl!