This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
FRESNO, Calif. - It's been a head-scratching season for winless Utah State, and it became more strange Saturday.
Consider:
The Aggies had replay review of a close call by the officials go in their favor at Fresno State, but it still did not benefit them.
The strange scenario played out early in the second quarter of Fresno State's 38-27 win over Utah State, which dropped to 0-9 this season with its 15th consecutive loss.
After Aggie fullback Jacob Actkinson's 17-yard touchdown made it 14-7, Fresno appeared to counter on its next possession on Ryan Mathews' 39-yard touchdown run.
As the Bulldogs lined up for the extra point, however, Utah State called a timeout so the replay official could check whether or not Mathews started celebrating a little too soon and dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line.
After a 10-minute delay, which drew two different rounds of boos from the unhappy crowd at Bulldog Stadium, referee Paul Labenne announced that Mathews did drop the ball before scoring.
That was the good news for Utah State.
Then, Labenne explained that since the official on the goal line had signalled a touchdown as Mathews stepped into the end zone - the equivalent of an inadvertent whistle - the play had to be ruled dead at that point.
As a result, Fresno State was given possession at the one-yard line and, on the next play, Mathews scored to make it 21-7.
The Aggies never got closer.
Asked how an official standing directly on the goal line could have missed the fact Mathews dropped the ball before scoring, Utah State coach Brent Guy simply shook his head.
Another odd aspect of the play involved what happened to the football after Mathews dropped it.
Utah State players on the field and coaches in the press box believed it dribbled out the side of the end zone, which would have made it a touchback.
But Labenne told Guy that one of the officials had picked up the ball in the back of the end zone, adding to the comedy of errors since the football should have still been live.
In the end, the officials came up with an unintentional compromise.
Yes, Mathews fumbled.
No, the football was not live when it either went out of the end zone or was picked up by an official because the play was already dead - killed as soon as the official at the goal line signalled a player not in possession of the football had scored a touchdown.
Guy, who has not once publicly criticized an official in his three years as Utah State's head coach, was asked about the play, the review and the officials' explanation for their decision.
"They took the easy way out," he said.
Coincidentally, Fresno State was called for three holding penalties on its next two offensive possessions. The Bulldogs scored both times, anyway, and took a 31-7 lead at halftime.